Uzumaki's New Friend
by TheReaper115
Summary: This story goes along with every single episode of the Naruto anime, season 1, that I had available to me, which I believe is every single one. It introduces my OC, Shade Aru, into the Naruto universe. There will be sequels. Hope you enjoy. By the way, I'm saying it now; I OWN NOTHING! P.S. If someone wants to use my OC, they can, just mention me please. Thanks!
1. Prologue: The Hyuga Secret

Shade Aru was considered one of the most talented shinobi alive, but he wasn't used as such. Instead, he lived among the Hyuga clan as a secret kept from the rest of the world.

Shade's entire clan was mysteriously killed when he was only six. Hiashi discovered him in the corpse ridden Aru estate and took him back to the village, adopting him as a son.

Only the Hyuga clan and the Hokage knew of this. Even though the Aru clan was a strong one, a Hyuga main branch member adopting a child from a different shinobi bloodline would look bad, as if they needed a new heir because their own children weren't strong enough.

Shade didn't mind, though. He liked being kept secret. He only left the estate when in search of jutsu and only when using his Undetectable Jutsu, an old jutsu of his clan which kept him completely hidden from everything imaginable. He was a copy ninja, so both the jutsu, and the lack of people who knew of his existence came in handy when he sent clones out looking for new moves.

His clan had the Arugan, an invisible and always active Dojutsu that allowed him to copy any ability or jutsu. His clan was also blessed with an unstable and always shifting DNA sequence, so he was able to copy Kekkei Genkai and other strange abilities (such as curse marks) as well.

Shade's other Kekkei Genkai of the Aru clan included the Aruno, which allowed him to summon any creature he had ever seen summoned with or without a contract; the Arutensu, which allowed him to use any jutsu to its fullest extent without hand signs; and the Arukra, which was a second chakra network that was made up of unstable black chakra, which was far more powerful than regular chakra and could shift colors in order to change traits.

Shade had seen several jutsu and Kekkei Genkai, and he had copied them all by either seeing them with his own eyes or with his shadow clones' eyes.

Most of Shade's jutsu came from him following certain ninjas with his shadow clones, such as Naruto Uzumaki.

This boy interested Shade because, like him, he was also a Jinchūriki, and the one who contained the nine-tailed fox, no less. Shade's demon was the ten-tailed wolf, Bakuda, who was passed down and protected in the Aru clan.

Bakuda was unknown to the rest of the world. Everyone thought that the original Ten-Tails had been split into nine demons, but it had actually been split into eleven, with the zero-tailed leech and the ten-tailed wolf being the other two parts. Bakuda was by far the most powerful piece of the original while the leech was the weakest.

Bakuda wasn't sealed very tightly into Shade, as Bakuda had only decided to host people since he was too powerful to just walk the earth normally, which meant he wasn't a prisoner. This allowed the two to work together and befriend each other. It also allowed the two to be separated or put back together without doing any harm to either of them.

All of this added up to give Shade the potential to be extremely powerful, but he didn't care. He didn't know what killed his family, as his father, Gendo Aru, had put him in an unconscious state and then hid him in a secret room in the Aru estate, so Shade never saw the killer. He did see one thing, though; blood.

Shade had woken up and walked out of the room to find himself the only survivor. He remembered the corpses of his family, mangled and strewn throughout the halls, their blood painting the walls.

Then Hiashi found him wondering aimlessly and took him to the village.

Shade no longer went outside after that. The only person he ever spoke to that much was his newfound sister, Hinata Hyuga.

Hinata always came by Shade's room and told him about her adventures at the academy, her missions with her team once she graduated, and, most importantly, Naruto.

Hinata was the one who first told Shade about Naruto. Shade wanted to see this boy, to find out if he really was as good and as hard working as Hinata said he was. Instead, Shade saw him paint the Hokage mountain faces, take part in a chaotic chase through the village, fail the Genin exams, and steal the Leaf Village's scroll of sealing.

But somehow, Shade knew the boy was good. He had seen Naruto's sad moments, and they had reminded him of himself. So, Shade approved of the boy, although he still used shadow clones (which Shade had learned to use by watching the Mizuki fight) to follow him in order to watch the fox (which Shade had learned about from listening to Mizuki's rant) and in order to learn new jutsu.

So Shade sat in his room and lived out his life doing nothing but copying new jutsu and making his own.

-o-

Shade looked down at his right hand as his most powerful battle jutsu to date was clearly visible on his hand.

His jutsu was a spinning cone of black chakra that looked like a spinning black spike was on Shade's hand like a glove, with its base starting at the wrist and its point stretching about half-a-foot from his fist. It made a sound like a pack of wolves howling.

"My jutsu," Shade began saying to himself, "is finally complete. To think that I've been practicing since I saw Jiraiya use the Rasengan. I figured that with that thing and Kakashi's Chidori, I would need my own powerful close range jutsu just in case I had to face something like it."

The jutsu faded away.

 _It requires my second chakra network, the Arukra_ , Shade thought, _because the unstable black chakra is the only kind capable of supporting it. This makes it more powerful, but that also means it's harder to control since it has no copied origin._

"But at least it's finally finished. My jutsu, my wrath, my 'Gekido', is finally perfect."

Shade then passed out from exhaustion.

-o-

Shade sat in his dark room meditating. Shade's room had no lights, no furniture, and no decorations. It was completely barren, but he preferred it that way. He liked it better with no distractions, simple wood flooring, and black screen walls.

The room matched Shade. He had long, thick, black hair that came down to his shoulders, dark brown eyes with black circles on the skin around them, and sharpened canines similar to that of the Inuzuka clan.

Shade wore basic black ninja gear that was baggy around the body, thighs, and biceps, but tight around the shins and forearms. He had a black bandana with short tie ends on the back of it that allowed his thick hair to come out from under the back.

He knew it was time to use an ability which he had rarely used since he copied it from the high priestess in the land of Ogres. But he still was reluctant.

 _I've never sent my soul this far back_ , he thought.

 ** _WHO CARES?!_** Bakuda screamed back in his deep demonic voice.

 _I do._

 ** _I don't give a damn! You just watched Naruto DIE! He had a family, he was Hokage, and he was a hero! And besides all that, if you don't do this, the rest of the world will follow right behind him._**

 _I know, it's just—_

 ** _Shut up and do it, Shade! Naruto was not meant to die, and you know it! Other powers were involved, powers that we should have stopped! Now Hinata has been widowed and Boruto and Himawari have lost their father!_**

Shade audibly sighed. Bakuda was right. He knew that, but what he was basically planning to do was reset time and change history. He didn't want to do all of that, especially when he felt like he was going back for the wrong reasons.

 ** _This isn't about correcting your mistakes, Shade; it's about saving the world._**

 _Then why am I going back to when I was thirteen?_

 ** _Trust me; it'll be easier that way. How else are you going to be trusted and accepted by others if they don't even know who you are? It will be best to bond with them at a young age._**

 _And I can't reveal anything about the future?_

 ** _No, that would be bad._**

 _Alright, fine; let's do this. Wait, will you come back with me or will I be stuck with you from back then?_

 ** _You'll be stuck with me from back then, but I'll immediately know everything that has transpired due to our mental connection... If you'll let me, that is._**

 _Alright, sounds good. Here we go!_

Shade focused and sent his spirit back. It was a long and arduous process, but once it was finished, he found himself sitting in his thirteen year old body, which was pretty much just smaller and more boyish looking than his adult body. He stood up from where he was meditating and went to the wall.

He placed his hand on it and opened the hidden sliding door, thus revealing his bedroom. It was generally the same as the room Shade was normally in, except it had furniture.

A plain, queen sized bed was in the far left corner from the doorway. Two giant scrolls were at the foot of the bed, one plain and the other with his clan's symbol painted on the outside of it (which was a black wolf skull).

A small rack stood in the far right corner of the room with two two-and-a-half foot blades sheathed in plain black rectangular scabbards. The handles were black with white cloth wrapped around them for better grip.

Shade walked over to the blades, picked them up by the sheath straps, and put them on. They sat on the back of his waist, forming an X by crossing over each other.

He then walked back out into his meditating room and went to the far wall from his bedroom before opening up another door that blended into the rest of the wall.

Shade then stepped through the doorway and into the sunlight. He began to make his way to where he knew Hiashi would be training Hanabi. He and the Hokage needed to hear this.

-o-

"So what you're saying is that you sent your spirit back to save Naruto and the rest of the world from a great evil… which you can't even remember," the Third stated.

"Yeah, I don't think the ability I used was meant to send people as far back as I went," Shade said, "I can't even remember how old I was, but I know Naruto had kids… what were their names again?"

"I understand your concern Shade, but without your memories of the future intact, there isn't much we can do," Hiruzen said as he leaned back in his chair behind his desk.

Shade was standing before him in the Hokage office reciting what little of his memory he had. Something had gone wrong when Shade sent himself back, and now he barely remembered anything.

"Look, all I'm asking is that when and if Naruto graduates, just add me on as an extra member of his squad," Shade said. "Just keep me with him and everything should go just fine. I may not remember how I got them, but I know plenty of jutsu and techniques to help him and the Leaf."

The Third thought for a moment before nodding.

"Alright, fine," he said, "I'll keep you and Naruto together as a team should he graduate and become a full-fledged ninja. In the meantime, however, you may want to introduce yourself to him and attempt to befriend him. How you do so, I don't care; just make sure you don't speak of any of this to anyone else besides Hiashi or myself, understood? Oh, and one more thing."

The Third then pulled out a scroll and began writing on it. When he was done, he stood up and handed it to Shade.

"This is a message to Naruto's teacher, Iruka. Show it to him and he'll allow you to take part in the remainder of his class. This will also prove that you are ready for the rank of Genin. If you're willing to completely come out of hiding, that is."

Shade bowed and said, "Yes, Lord Hokage, I would be delighted to finally come out of the Hyuga estate and live my life," before putting the scroll away and leaving. He soon walked outside and heard laughter followed by several angry shouts involving the name 'Naruto'.

Shade grinned and looked up at the Hokage monument faces.

"Oh, this is gonna be fun!" Shade shouted before running towards the noise.


	2. Chapter 1: Enter: Shade Aru

( _ **To publicly address some comments I received yesterday: Hinata and Naruto getting married is cannon. Their children, Boruto and Himawari, are also cannon. Boruto now has his own show, and I even plan on making a book involving that with a much younger OC, though I haven't decided how I will set them up. Also, the Arugan isn't actually that OP. It merely gives Shade access to more jutsu; that doesn't mean he can use them all immediately. He must train his body, mind, and chakra network. The meditation and other training that he has done is what makes him powerful. Also, he's meant to seem as if he's the perfect example of a ninja with Kekkei Genkai. There is a reason for this that will be slightly evident in one of the later books. Yes, he seems OP, but I assure you, thanks to his own doing, he's not as far ahead as he seems. I OWN NOTHING!)**_

-o-

"Naruto! Come back here! When I get my hands on you—!" one of the two Chunin shouted.

The Chunin were chasing young Naruto Uzumaki down the streets of the Leaf while Shade followed close behind them.

Shade had forgotten most of his training and all of his battles, not to mention the fact that he was simply in a weaker body now, so he was only as fast as the average ninja his age, meaning he couldn't overtake any of the ninja in front of him.

Shade didn't recognize the Chunin, but he definitely recognized Naruto, who currently had his jacket tied around his waist, a bucket of goldenrod paint in his hand, and goggles on his forehead.

He was also laughing his head off as he ran down the street.

"You've crossed the line this time, Naruto!" the other one yelled.

Suddenly, Naruto began jumping up the walls of the surrounding buildings and did a final jump into the air and back towards Shade, purposely backtracking.

"Give it up," Naruto laughed, "You're just mad because you don't have the guts to do what I do, do ya? Losers! Wannabees! You'll never catch me! Hahahahahahaha!"

Shade smiled and moved out of the way before Naruto landed on him, then began running beside him with the Chunin close behind as they had mimicked Naruto's every move.

"What's all the noise about?" Shade asked with a smile.

Naruto turned his head quickly in surprise and noticed Shade for the first time.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"My name is Shade Aru," Shade answered, "and you?"

Naruto grinned and shouted, "I'm Naruto Uzumaki and I'm gonna be the next Hokage! Believe it!"

Shade's grin widened. "Great! Now, let me help you out real quick."

Shade grabbed Naruto's shoulder and dove into an alley. The Chunin ran right on by.

"Well, looks like we're clear," Shade said as he turned towards the whiskered child.

"Thanks!" Naruto said to his brand new accomplice.

"Yeah well, you looked like you needed help," Shade responded. "You were getting chased because you painted the Hokage faces, right?"

Naruto nodded, an apprehensive look now on his face.

Shade held out his fist.

"Awesome! That graffiti was hilarious!"

Naruto's smile returned as he bumped Shade's fist.

"Yeah, it was pretty funny!"

"Oh yeah, Naruto!?"

"AH!" the boys both shouted as they jumped.

Shade turned around and saw another Ninja in the alley entrance.

"Where'd you come from Iruka-sensei?" Naruto questioned. "What are you doing here?"

"No, what are you doing here?" Iruka questioned back. "You're supposed to be in class."

"Oh, so _you're_ Iruka-sensei," Shade stepped in. He then reached into the pouch on his right leg and pulled out the scroll from the Hokage before tossing it to Iruka.

"Oh, what's this?" he questioned after he caught it.

Iruka opened the scroll and read it quickly before looking back at Shade and smiling. "I just received word from the Hokage about you, Shade. He says you should pass the class with flying colors."

Iruka then sent a deadly look towards Naruto before saying, "I just hope you don't turn out to be a trouble maker like the _other_ student the Hokage's messenger told me about."

"No promises," Shade said with a smirk.

-o-

"I'm at the end of my rope, Naruto," Iruka lectured.

Naruto was currently tied up and sitting on the floor at the front of the classroom. Shade was seated beside one kid who was apparently named Sasuke Uchiha (according to the whispers of love from most of the girls in the room) and he was now receiving several dirty looks (from those same girls).

He simply flipped them off and leaned his chair back, kicking his feet up on the desk, which were clad in black shinobi socks and black shinobi combat shoes (The kind that would normally be considered boots if they didn't leave the toes open like sandals).

Sasuke didn't seem to care, which Shade was just fine with.

"You failed the graduation test last time and the time before that," Iruka continued. "Tomorrow you've got another chance and you're messing up again!"

"Humph!" Naruto turned his head snidely away from Iruka and Shade had to stifle a laugh.

"Fine!" Iruka shouted before turning to the rest of the class. "Because _you_ missed it, Naruto, everyone will review the Transformation Jutsu!"

"AW!" almost the entire class said in unison.

Sasuke didn't seem to care, and Shade pumped his fist in the air with a resounding "Woohoo!"

Almost the entire class glared at him, but he just smiled even more.

 _No wonder Naruto causes so much chaos; this is fun!_

 ** _I'm beginning to wonder which one of us is the demon._**

-o-

"Alright, Sakura here, let's do it," a girl with long pink hair said as she held up a hand sign.

 _Sakura, huh? She's one of the girls that kept giving me dirty looks_ , thought Shade.

The entire class was lined up at the front of the classroom, awaiting their turn to show off their Transformation Jutsu. Shade was standing in between Naruto and Sasuke.

"Transform!" Sakura shouted before a cloud of smoke went up around her. When it cleared, an exact copy of Iruka was standing there and holding up the same hand sign as before.

 _I know that jutsu. This will be easy._

 ** _I doubt you'll see any new jutsu for quite a while. After all, you have already seen how this all goes without you around._**

"Transformed into me," Iruka said mostly to himself, "Good"

Sakura transformed back into herself and began shouting in celebration.

"Yes! I did it! Yay! Yes!"

She then turned on Sasuke.

"Sasuke, did you see that?" she asked hopefully.

Shade looked at him and whispered, "My condolences."

"Next: Sasuke Uchiha"

Sasuke ignored them both, which Shade somehow thought amusing, and stepped forward as Iruka called his name. He quickly threw up a hand sign and transformed into Iruka just like Sakura did.

"Uh, good," Iruka said as he looked up from the clipboard to see that Sasuke had already turned into him.

Shade suddenly noticed Naruto had switched places with some guy with a ponytail whom was now right beside him.

 _When did that happen?_

 ** _Uh… I don't actually know…_**

 _Weird._

 ** _Agreed._**

"Next: Shade Aru."

The class all looked expectantly to the strange looking new kid as he made his way to the front of the classroom.

Shade neither said a word nor did he throw up a hand sign as he transformed into Iruka with his hands at his sides. The real Iruka just stared in open-mouthed shock.

Shade transformed back before explaining with, "One of the Aru clan's Kekkei Genkai is the Arutensu; the ability to cast any jutsu without hand signs without expending any extra chakra or hindering the jutsu in any way."

"Uh, okay, well," Iruka seemed to be at a loss for words, as well as the rest of the class.

Sasuke, however, looked like he was sizing Shade up.

"Well, you did well, I suppose, so uh… good job?"

Shade smirked at Iruka and moved to the end of the line.

"Uh, oh right! Next: Naruto Uzumaki!" Iruka seemed to recover a bit as Shade moved to the end of the line.

Naruto stepped up with a confident grin and Shade noticed his sister blushing and poking her fingers together under her chin.

 _Mind Reader Jutsu._

Shade used a jutsu he knew he hadn't copied because he remembered learning it from a scroll when he was eight, long before this current point in time.

 _"_ _Naruto, do your best."_ Hinata's soft voice echoed in Shade's head and he cancelled the Jutsu.

 _Yep, she's still totally hypnotized by his mere existence._

 ** _It's good to see that some things never change, no matter how much we mess with the universe._**

"Transform!" Naruto shouted as a large amount of chakra spewed from him.

 _Whoa, that's a bit much._

Suddenly, Naruto transformed, but not into Iruka.

"HAHAHAHA!"

Shade fell over laughing as Iruka got a nose bleed from the naked blonde girl now standing in front of him.

"Hahahahahaha! Got ya! That's my Sexy Jutsu!" Naruto shouted as he poofed back into himself.

Shade was rolling on the floor. "His face was too perfect! He didn't know what to do!"

"CUT THE STUPID TRICKS!" Iruka shouted with tissues now jammed in his nose to stop the bleeding. "THIS IS YOUR LAST WARNING!"

"I can't breathe!" Shade shouted, struggling to breathe and laugh at the same time.

-o-

Shade walked through the streets of the Village Hidden in the Leaves until he spotted a familiar figure cleaning the Hokage monuments while another familiar figure sat on top of the head that the first figure was cleaning.

Shade smiled as he recognized Naruto and Iruka-sensei. He was about to run towards them when an arm grabbed his sleeve.

"Excuse me, but where did you get those blades?" a firm yet feminine voice asked.

Shade looked behind him to see a girl with buns in her hair and a pink shirt. She was clearly a ninja, as her headband indicated, but Shade didn't know her. Then again, Shade didn't know that many people to begin with.

"What?" Shade asked as he turned around to face her, for some reason getting distracted by the girl's face.

"Those blades on the back of your hips," the girl asked, pointing to Saw and Sabre. "Where did you find such well-made replicas of Saw and Sabre, the legendary blades of the Aru clan?

"Oh, these aren't replicas," Shade said, unsheathing the blades and showing them to the girl.

Saw, which had had its handle jutting out on Shade's right side and was now in Shade's right hand, was mostly rectangular, but had large, one inch long triangular teeth on the bladed side.

Sabre, which had had its handle jutting out on Shade's left side and was now in Shade's left hand, had a straight back, but was curved on the bladed side so that it actually had a point on the end, but it definitely wasn't meant to just stab someone. It was meant to slice.

"I'm the last Aru, so I inherited these," Shade said. "The name's Shade Aru by the way."

The girl's face lit up.

"That's so cool!" she cried.

She began asking hundreds of questions and Shade tried to answer as many as he could to the best of his knowledge, but he just couldn't keep up. Luckily, someone showed up to save him. Unluckily, that someone was Shade's least favorite adoptive relative.

"Tenten, where have you been?" a condescending voice shouted from down the street.

 _Oh no. Not this jerk._

 ** _Good luck._**

Shade sheathed his blades, then looked behind Tenten to see his adoptive cousin, Neji Hyuga, walking up the road. Neji froze when he saw Shade.

"What are _you_ doing here, _Lord_ Aru?" Neji questioned. "Or is it Elder? Or maybe Heir? I can never tell since there are so many clan positions which now fall upon you."

Ever since Shade had been taken in by Hiashi, Neji had hated him. So, Neji made it a point to try and bully Shade about his family, which Shade thought of as a whole new level of harsh, especially since he had no clue as to why Neji acted the way he did.

"Well at least that makes _me_ important, _Daddy's boy_ ," Shade spat back.

Neji's eye twitched.

"And I'm here because I've decided to become a full-fledged Leaf shinobi and start helping out around the village," Shade continued. "So I decided to walk around the village and get to know my surroundings.

"Um, do you two know each other?" Tenten asked.

"Yeah," Shade answered, staring down Neji as he did the same in return. "The Hyuga have taken care of me since my family died since Hiashi was friends with my father, Gendo Aru. But this jerk has hated me and mocked me since I first showed up."

"Um…" Tenten said as Neji didn't even bother to deny the accusations.

"We'll talk later, Tenten," Neji stated coldly before turning around and walking away.

"Uh, okay?" Tenten responded in an unsure manner.

As Neji rounded a corner, Shade turned back to Tenten.

"So…I take it he's your boyfriend?" he asked, for some reason feeling a little saddened by the thought.

"What? No!" Tenten looked incredulous. "We're just teammates! I mean, Neji's a great teammate and all, but he really isn't my type."

Shade felt a little happier for some reason.

"Oh, okay. Oh, by the way, how is it you know so much about my blades?"

Tenten blushed a little at that. "Well, I'm a weapons specialist. It's kind of my thing."

Shade blinked then smiled. "Well, would you like to use them?"

Her jaw almost hit the ground.

"R-really?" Tenten asked. "You'd really let me?!"

"Of course," Shade answered with a smile. "I'm bad at using almost any kind of weapon; especially Saw and Sabre. So I might as well let someone else learn how to use them, even if I plan on keeping them. I have plenty of scrolls you can look at that teach you how to use them; I just never got the hang of it."

Tenten's eyes shined like stars. Suddenly, she hugged the much taller boy.

"Oh, thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!" she shouted as she squeezed. When she let go, Shade had to hide his light blush.

"Uh, no problem," he said. "Just come by the Hyuga estate tomorrow before the academy starts. I'll be waiting at the main entrance."

Tenten thanked him one last time before she ran off to catch up with Neji.

 ** _Nice girl._**

 _Yeah. Let's hope she doesn't come to hate me like the girls in the academy._

 ** _Those are special cases._**

 _How so?_

 ** _There's little to no brain activity in any of them._**

Shade snickered a bit at Bakuda's joke before he began walking home.

-o-

"Thanks again for letting me train with these," Tenten said as she tried to hand Saw and Sabre back to Shade.

The two stood in one of the Hyuga compound's outdoor sparring areas. Several craters and gash marks were visible in the ground everywhere. Tenten had still barely broken a sweat since she hadn't been training very long, so Shade held up his hand.

"You've barely gotten any work in; stay here and keep training while I go finish up the final exam at the academy."

"Really?" Tenten asked, her eyes once again shining like stars.

"Of course."

"Thanks!" Tenten hugged him before she quickly pulled back with a curious look on her face. "By the way, why are you still in the academy? You look like you're at least my age."

"Well, I am a year too old for the class I'm in, but yesterday was my first day. I kind of never left my room until yesterday, so they're making a special exception for me, and if I pass the final exam, I'll be granted the official rank of Genin."

"Oh, cool!" Tenten said. "You'd better get going then! I'll stay here and train."

"Alright," Shade said as he nodded and turned to leave. "Good luck, Tenten!"

"You too, Shade!"

-o-

"We will now start the final exam," Iruka announced. "When your name is called, proceed to the testing room. The final test will be on… the Clone Jutsu."

"Wait, that's all?" Shade asked.

"Yes, why?"

"Nothing, I just didn't expect it to be a demonstration of a basic jutsu like that," Shade said.

"Well, if this were the Chunin exams, it wouldn't be so easy," Iruka said. "But right now, you're just going for Genin."

"Got it."

-o-

Shade walked out of the room with a headband in hand and dispersed the ten clones he had made. He saw Naruto sitting on a bench by himself.

 _Hm. No headband. Shame._

 ** _I'm sure he'll pass next time._**

 _Yeah, I sure hope so._

"There, you see him?"

Shade turned to see a woman with a hateful expression on her face that looked like she was looking Naruto's way.

 _Who is that?_

 ** _Looks like some civilian woman; probably a parent._**

 _I can see that, but are they looking at Naruto?_

 ** _It looks like it._**

"It's that boy. I heard he's the only one who failed," another woman beside the first one said, also sending a hateful look Naruto's way.

"Humph. Well it serves him right."

"Just imagine what would happen if _he_ became a _ninja_. I mean, he's the boy who—"

"The boy who what?"

Both of the mothers turned to see Shade glaring at them.

"No, finish your thought. I want to know why so many of you hate him. He may be a trouble maker, but I haven't heard of anything he's done to deserve this kind of treatment so leave him alone or I might just lose my temper."

Suddenly, two boys appeared beside the women.

"Hey, leave our moms alo—"

Shade didn't even take the time to look at him, much less listen to him before he spun around and struck the one on the left with the back of his right fist, sending him headfirst into the face of the one on the right, launching them both twenty feet away. Everyone grew silent. The mothers looked terrified.

"Like I said; I might just lose my temper."

Shade walked away.

 ** _That was an excellent Key Lock strike._**

 _Well, it is the Aru's ancient fighting style. There're more scrolls about it then there are about you._

 ** _That's because they had it before they had me, before they were known as the Aru clan._**

 _Yep. Incredible how something that old is still so effective._

 ** _Indeed._**

Shade suddenly noticed that Naruto was now gone.

"Where'd he go?"

-o-

Shade was panicking. He had overheard a Leaf Ninja talking about how Naruto had stolen the Leaf Village's scroll of sealing.

 _Damn it, Naruto! What did you do?!_

 ** _Focus! You need to find him before the others do!_**

 _Right! So someone must have tricked him, right?_

 ** _Definitely; there's no way he would have done this on his own._**

 _Right._

And with that, Shade ran into the woods, tracking Naruto's scent. It didn't take long before he came upon Naruto and Iruka.

 _Looks like I was beaten to the punch. But luckily, it doesn't look like Iruka's going to kill him._

 ** _Looks can be deceiving._**

 _Not helping._

Shade crouched on the tree limb he was in and watched the situation unfold before he made any brash decisions.

"Caught me already; not bad," Naruto said while rubbing the back of his head and smiling, "You're quick, Sensei. I only had time to learn one technique."

Iruka gave a bit of a surprised look.

 _How in the world was Naruto able to learn anything from that scroll? Isn't it supposed to be coded or something and filled with only incredibly advanced jutsu?_

 ** _Note to self; if I must attack a village, attack Leaf Village since their leaders are clearly morons and their techniques are simple and easy to learn._**

 _Please don't._

 ** _No promises._**

 _You joke stealing son-of-a—!_

"Listen Iruka-sensei," Naruto continued, sparing Bakuda of Shade's insults. "I'm gonna show you this amazing jutsu, then you're gonna let me graduate, then everything will be okay! That's the way it works, right? Anyone who learns a jutsu from this scroll passes."

"Huh?!" Iruka had the biggest dumbfounded expression Shade had ever seen. "Where'd you get that idea?"

"Mizuki-sensei told me about it!" Naruto announced before spinning around to show off the giant scroll strapped to his back. "Believe it! He told me where to find the scroll, and this place…"

Naruto trailed of when he saw the horrified look on Iruka's face.

 _I smell a rat._

 ** _As do I._**

 _So, that guy with the silver hair from the exams is a turncoat?_

 ** _It would seem so._**

 _And that's his scent right behind us, correct?_

 ** _Correct._**

 _Break him?_

 ** _No. He's stronger than you. You'll need help from the other two. Low level Chunin beats high level Genin._**

Shade heard several blades whiz towards him, but he dropped out of the trees before they could touch him and ran over to Naruto and Iruka. When he reached them, he spun around and faced Mizuki.

"I see you found our little hideaway, eh, Iruka? And Shade, isn't it a bit past your bedtime?" Mizuki asked from his place in the trees.

"Shade, what are you doing here?" Iruka asked as he quickly drew out a kunai.

"I came to help Naruto get out of whatever mess he was in. I may not have known him that long, but I knew enough to figure out that someone had tricked him into doing this."

"Nice work," Mizuki stated. "But I'm afraid it was all for not."

"Wait, what's going on?" Naruto questioned.

"Mizuki tricked you, Naruto," Shade stated, never letting his eyes move away from Mizuki for a second. "He used you to try and get the scroll for himself."

"He's right, Naruto," Iruka said. "That scroll contains vital information that could put the village in grave danger. You can't let Mizuki get his hands on it".

Suddenly, Mizuki threw a kunai at Naruto's heart. Shade wasn't close enough to intercept it in time, but Iruka was. He took the blade to the chest and hit the ground next to Naruto, who immediately dropped to his sensei's side.

"Poor, poor Iruka. Why you would bother protecting the nine-tails is beyond me," Mizuki said as he dropped down from the trees.

"T-the nine-tails?" Naruto questioned.

"Oh, yes," Mizuki said with a smirk. "Let me tell you a little secret,"

"No Mizuki, don't!" Iruka cried, "It's forbidden!"

Mizuki went on to tell a story about how Naruto was the nine-tails' host and no one was allowed to talk about it. Shade didn't really care if Naruto had a demon or not, though he figured this would explain why everyone hated him.

"Naruto, none of that matters!" Iruka shouted. "Just because the nine-tails is locked inside you doesn't mean you're a monster! You're your own person. Mizuki is just messing with your head."

"He's right, Naruto," Shade said. "Just because you contain a demon doesn't make you a demon. I should know; after all, I do contain the ten-tailed wolf."

Iruka and Naruto both looked shocked.

"Remind me to bring you both a scroll about it," Shade said dismissively.

"STOP IGNORING ME!"

Shade realized he had taken his eyes off of Mizuki to look at Naruto and Iruka and looked back a little too late. One of the two giant shuriken Mizuki had been carrying on his back was now flying straight for Iruka, and once again, Shade wasn't close enough to stop it.

"Iruka sensei!" Shade cried.

Suddenly, two Naruto's caught the shuriken together.

 _What in the…_

 ** _Shadow clones._**

 _But there's hundreds!_

 ** _One thousand, to be precise._**

 _What? THAT'S AWESOME!_

"If you ever lay your hands on my sensei again," Naruto said in a low voice, "I'll kill you!"

There were hundreds of Naruto's surrounding the four Ninja. Iruka was in shock, Mizuki was terrified, Naruto was pissed, and Shade was beginning to get giddy with excitement.

Suddenly, the Naruto's all attacked Mizuki at once and Shade joined in, simply punching at any piece of Mizuki he saw.

When they were done, it was daylight out and Mizuki was horribly disfigured.

"Hahaha, sorry, guess I got carried away," Naruto said as he looked at Iruka, who had propped himself up against the nearby shack.

All of the clones had disappeared and the area around Mizuki was spattered with his blood.

"I think we should still keep beating him, but whatever," Shade said as he kicked Mizuki in the kidney eliciting a small and high pitched squeal of pain, causing Naruto to look back at him and snicker.

"Hey, Naruto," Iruka called.

When Naruto turned around, he had to think fast to catch something Iruka threw at him.

"That's yours now," Iruka said, "You've earned it."

Naruto raised it up and found that it was Iruka's headband.

"Wait," Naruto said with a look of shock, "does this mean that I—"

"Yep," Iruka answered with a smile before Naruto could finish. "You pass! And to celebrate, we're going out for ramen tonight!"

"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto shouted as he ran over to his sensei and began hugging him.

"Not without me, you're not!" Shade shouted with a smile. "I've earned some free food, darn it!"

"Sure! Why not?" Iruka laughed.

Shade then sat down beside them both and realized something.

"So, uh… how are we gonna explain this to the Hokage?"

Both Iruka and Naruto groaned.

-o-

 ** _(Thanks for reading, guys. Please don't forget to review. I know that this story is off to a rough start, but I'm hoping that you guys will stick around to enjoy the plot later on. P.S. If you're enjoying this story, please comment so! All I got last time were depressing flames...)_**


	3. Chapter 2: Little Kids and Ninja Girls

**_(I hope that this chapter pleases you, but it probably won't since it's pretty short. I OWN NOTHING!)_**

-o-

"Listen kid," the old photographer said, "you sure you want me to take your photo like that?"

Shade was trying to stifle his laughter, but he couldn't. He and Naruto were the last two ninja that needed to take their photos because of one reason; Naruto's paint.

Naruto's skin was painted white with red markings, which had taken over an hour for him and Shade to apply. Shade decided against anything special as he simply wanted to take a photo with him giving a smile. It would look great once his missions and kill counts all started going up. Then anyone who saw his card would be absolutely horrified.

"Just do it, come on already!" Naruto complained. "Come on, come on!"

Shade once again had to try not to laugh as he stood beside the photographer and Naruto got into position.

The old man gave a sigh of defeat and began to go under the camera's black curtain as he said, "Don't blame me later. Say cheese!"

The photo was the dumbest thing Shade had ever seen and he almost fell off the roof laughing.

-o-

Shade stood inside the Hokage's office right next to Naruto, who was sitting down. He was there because he had demanded that he see the Third's reaction to the photo and no one was willing to throw him out after he bit the guard's hand, causing him to require stitches.

Naruto laughed and put his hand on the back of his head.

A hum and a concerned look were all the Hokage gave in response.

"At first, ya know, I couldn't figure out exactly how to do it," Naruto began explaining, "It took me like three hours to work it out and stuff, but, finally, I got it. Like an art project an on my face; only cooler. Haha!"

"Take it again."

 _Here it comes!_ _The moment I've been waiting for!_

"Hm?" Naruto asked as if he didn't understand the Hokage. But then his eyes flashed in anger as it clicked.

"No way!" he shouted, leaning forward in his chair.

"We can't accept this photo," the Hokage calmly explained.

"Yeah?!" Naruto childishly complained, "Well I'm not doing it again!"

Naruto and the Hokage proceeded to have a standoff while Shade tried not to laugh at the sheer stupidity of the situation they were all in. The man beside the Hokage simply remained silent.

Suddenly, Naruto threw up a hand sign. "Transform!" he shouted.

A cloud of smoke appeared, from which a naked blonde girl with whisker markings emerged.

She giggled and took a rather seductive stance as Shade began laughing loudly.

"Pretty please, Lord Hokage?" the girl pleaded in a seductive feminine voice while winking.

"Huh?" the Hokage stared for a moment before his nose erupted in a fountain of blood and he and his chair both fell backwards.

Shade was now doubled over laughing. "Darn Naruto, I think you killed him!" he managed to get out. "Here lies the Third Hokage, once the most powerful ninja alive, killed by the sight of boobs!"

Naruto transformed back into himself, now adorning an "uh-oh" look on his face.

-o-

"That's the Sexy Jutsu, you say?" Hiruzen asked, wiping the blood away from his nose with a napkin.

The Third had picked his chair up and climbed back into it as Naruto had explained what jutsu he had used.

"Very tricky," Hiruzen continued. "Too tricky; don't do it again."

Naruto laughed and rubbed the back of his head with an embarrassed look on his face.

"And where is your head band, Naruto?" the old man asked. "You're supposed to be wearing it."

Naruto currently had on his goggles while Shade had sewn the metal part of his headband into his bandana after carefully removing it from its original blue cloth.

"Oh, I'm not putting it on until the orientation," Naruto said as he began rubbing his goggles self-consciously. "I don't want to mess it up."

"So," the Hokage began, "you want your headband nice, but your photo, which is supposed to identify you, makes you look like a clown! It's for ninja training and missions, which is the key to your future."

The old man then lifted up the photo and looked at it again.

"Look at this picture," he said. "You can't even tell who it is!"

"Well, fine!" Naruto shouted childishly, "How am I supposed to know all this complicated stuff anyway?!"

Shade suddenly heard the sound of a weapon being handled.

"Heads up!" he called out as he readied himself for a barrage from the doorway.

Suddenly, the door slid open and a small child with an overly long blue scarf, a weird kind of grey head gear that covered everything but his ponytail, a yellow Leaf symbol shirt, and grey shorts.

"Old man!" he shouted. "I challenge you!"

The boy had a shuriken in hand and began running towards the Hokage. Shade relaxed a bit because this kid was obviously no threat but Naruto looked shocked and tensed up.

"I'm going to defeat you and become the Fifth Hokage!" the boy shouted as he continued running towards his target… until he fell, that is.

"Ah!" he shouted as he went down and landed face first on the floor.

Shade just barely stopped himself from laughing as Naruto groaned in embarrassment for the mystery boy.

 _I should have left the compound sooner! This stuff is hilarious!_

 ** _This is weird._**

 _Which is why it's hilarious!_

The boy curled up and cried as he held his face.

The Hokage pulled down his hat in an attempt to hide his face.

Suddenly, a ninja with a bandana of a different making than Shade's and strange sunglasses appeared in the doorway with a look of shock.

"Oh…" the boy groaned as he sat up and continued rubbing his face. "Something tripped me!"

The ninja in the doorway kept glancing around the room and giving gasps of shock, which got on Shade's nerves very quickly. Luckily, though, he finally stopped and looked to the tiny attacker sitting on the floor.

"Are you okay, Honorable Grandson?" he asked with concern before he began adjusting his glasses. "And by the way, there's nothing here for you to trip on. It's pretty flat."

Soon enough, the "Honorable Grandson" stopped rubbing his face, looked at Naruto and Shade, and gave them dirty looks.

When the ninja in the doorway saw Naruto, he gained a look of shock. Then he recovered his posture and smirked pompously.

The kid walked towards Naruto and Shade and pointed at them both. "Alright!" he yelled. "You're the ones who tripped me!"

Shade felt a flash of anger and grabbed the kid's scarf at the same time that Naruto did. The two were both standing each other and holding the kid up off of the floor together.

"You tripped over your own feet, dork!" Naruto shouted.

"Yeah brat, so go finish learning to walk, and if you wrongly accuse us of anything again, we'll knock ya through puberty!" Shade added angrily.

"Hey! You two!" the Ninja with the sunglasses shouted, "Take your hands off of him right now! He's the Honorable Grandson of the Honorable Third Hokage."

"Hm?" Shade and Naruto said together as they looked at the ninja.

The kid gave Naruto and Shade both hateful looks as they looked back at the boy they were holding in the air.

"What's the matter, huh?" he suddenly shouted at them. "I thought you were gonna hit me, tough guys! Afraid cause the Third Hokage is my grandfather?"

 ** _Hit him._**

 _WITH PLEASURE!_

"I don't care if he's your grand _mother_!" Naruto shouted.

"And neither do I!" Shade added.

The two looked at each other and nodded.

They both punched the Third's grandson on the top of the head.

"So believe it!" they shouted in unison.

The kid hit the floor and stayed there.

 ** _Knockout._**

 _AND THE CROWD GOES WILD!_

The ninja in sunglasses gave a cry of shock and fear as he saw the boy stay on the floor without moving.

The Hokage just groaned.

-o-

"What was up with that kid?" Shade asked Naruto as they began walking towards Ichiraku Ramen.

"No idea," Naruto answered.

The two friends couldn't clash more as they walked down the street even if they tried. Naruto had bright blond hair and a bright orange jumpsuit, plus he was short and walked with a relaxed posture. Shade had black hair and black combat gear, not to mention the fact that he was taller than every other kid who had been in Naruto's class and walked around standing tall and straight up.

Shade soon stopped thinking about this as he felt another presence following them.

Both Naruto and Shade suddenly stopped and looked behind them. What looked to be a sheet painted the same color as dirt was sitting on the road, obviously tossed over someone who was crouching if the feet underneath were any indication.

 _The kid?_

 ** _Definitely._**

 _He's the worst ninja I've ever seen…_

 ** _I was just thinking the same thing._**

Shade walked up to the bundle and kicked it.

"Ow!"

Suddenly, the kid popped up holding his head.

"Saw through my disguise, huh?" he said with a smirk as a bump began to form on his head where Shade had kicked him. "The rumors about you two are true; you're good!"

 _Is it just me, or is this kid stupid?_

 ** _He's stupid._**

 _I thought so._

"Alright!" The child shouted as he pointed up at Shade while Naruto walked over and stood beside him. "I'll be your apprentice and you'll both be my trainers!"

"Eh?" Naruto asked.

Shade sighed. "Look kid, I'm no trainer. Besides, I don't have time for this, I've got to—"

Shade suddenly remembered that he had agreed to show Tenten the Key Lock style that afternoon.

"Oh no, I'm gonna be late!" he said before he bolted for the Hyuga compound.

-o-

"That is so cool!" Tenten yelled as Shade continued to spin, letting his arms loosely swing and strike the wooden posts he had placed in one of the outside sparring grounds of the Hyuga complex. Shade kept reversing his spins every time he hit something, each time increasing the power of his swings with his own inertia, soon smashing the poles to pieces without so much as breaking a sweat.

When Shade was done, he stopped and turned to Tenten.

"As you can see, the Key Lock style is highly effective at causing large amounts of damage without using much energy. It lets the user fight for extended periods of time while still giving him plenty of extra chakra to work with.

"It was also the main fighting style of my clan before they discovered the ten-tailed wolf, Bakuda."

"The ten-tailed wolf?" Tenten asked.

"Yes," Shade responded as he walked over to stand in front of her. "Like the nine-tails, he is a giant demon made of chakra; however, the ten-tails is a peaceful giant. He was even the one who first proposed being sealed inside my ancestor when he was discovered on top of a mountain. This was because he realized that he was too strong to walk the earth on his own and his risk of accidentally hurting someone was much too high.

"My ancestor accepted the offer and since then, Bakuda has been passed down through the generations of my clan. Since I am the last Aru, it has fallen upon me to be the host of Bakuda. He teaches me new techniques and helps by giving me advice while I do all the actual work since he can't take over my body."

Tenten nodded in understanding. "So your family kind of takes care of him like a pet?"

 ** _A WHAT?!_**

Shade fell over laughing.

"What's so funny?" Tenten asked.

"You just offended an ancient demon and now he's complaining like an angry five year old!" Shade cried out as he fought to breath, Bakuda still screaming out threats and indignations in his head.

Tenten giggled a bit as Shade finally stopped and stood back up.

"Anyways, my clan gained all of their Kekkei Genkai and most of their strange looks from Bakuda altering my ancestor's DNA, allowing him to pass new traits down to his children. Before that, we were a clan known for producing a few ninja and a lot of locksmiths, hence the name "Key Lock", but Bakuda helped us become one of the most powerful clans around, even before we allied ourselves with the Hidden Leaf Village."

Tenten nodded again. "Right, I heard that your family lived outside of the village and had only allied yourselves with the Leaf a year after the Second Great Shinobi War."

"That's right. I was meant to be the first official Leaf ninja of my clan according to some scrolls that were found in my clan's old compound, and I suppose that now I already am, but our clan was still relatively new to the village and relatively untrusted, especially since we still lived outside of it."

"Wait a second; why are you telling me all this?" Tenten asked, suddenly curious.

Shade thought for a moment before he answered with, "I don't like keeping too many secrets, especially when it's something like this. This village is very judgmental of anything to do with demons, and I wouldn't want everyone to start accusing me of hiding mine.

"I also want to see how you'll react to it. Will you hate and fear me and walk away forever, or will you not care and stick around despite me having Bakuda around since he's not evil or violent?"

Tenten seemed shocked by his reasoning.

"So, what'll it be, Tenten?" Shade asked nonchalantly despite being terrified, "Friends or foes?"

 _ **What are you doing Shade? Do you really trust this girl enough for her to be the first person outside of the Hyuga whom you share this with?**_

 _Well, I've got to start somewhere. Besides, I like her. There's just something about her... and either way, it's about too late to turn back now.  
_

 ** _I hope you won't regret this._**

"Well, you don't strike me as evil…" Tenten said, "So… friends."

Shade smiled and laughed. "Thank God. I was terrified that you might hate me or run away in terror."

Tenten looked a little indignant at that but she didn't say anything.

For the rest of that afternoon, Shade taught Tenten the Key Lock style while Tenten showed him how to correctly throw shuriken and kunai.

It was a fun day and Shade was sad when it ended, but he looked forward to seeing her again the day after tomorrow. It would have been tomorrow, but he and Naruto had to go get assigned to their squads.

 _It's going to be so boring tomorrow!_

 ** _Boring is good; it means things are easy._**

 _Well, I guess you're right. Let's go get cleaned up and ready for our boring day tomorrow then!_

-o-

 ** _(In case you're wondering, the next day was not boring. Also, Shade starts seriously messing with the timeline next chapter. Want more info? Read next chapter!)_**


	4. Chapter 3: New Faces

**_(WHAT IS UP MY DUDES!? It would seem that I'm a better YouTuber than a fanfiction writer, especially since the work I've made in Fanfiction was all just to practice for my original books. This is saying something since I'm a pretty bad YouTuber and I'm currently on a YouTube hiatus. Anyways, to those of you who are still reading, kudos. Now prepare to see the truly detrimental effects that a child's mind receives after his entire family is slaughtered. Enjoy! I OWN NOTHING!)_**

-o-

Shade woke up early the next day and ate breakfast, quickly washed up, put on his basic black ninja gear, and left, leaving Saw and Sabre behind as he had decided not to bring them along until after he had learned to use them.

Shade soon made his way to the academy and sat down beside Sasuke again since Naruto wasn't there yet.

It didn't take long before Naruto sat next to some random kid at the desk right in front of Shade and Sasuke. Naruto was directly in front of Shade while some random kid Shade didn't recognize was in front of Sasuke.

Naruto and Shade smiled and bumped fists when they saw each other. Right after that, the boy with the ponytail from class walked by them and gained a shocked expression when he saw Naruto with a happy expression on his face.

"Huh?" he immediately said. "What are you doing here, _Naruto_? This isn't for dropouts. You can't be here unless you graduated."

Naruto immediately gained a foul expression and jutted a thumb towards his headband. "Oh yeah, do you see this, do you see this? Open your eyes, Shikamaru, it's a regulation headband."

Naruto then lowered his hand and grinned like an idiot.

"That's right, pal; Naruto graduated, so stop being a jerk and get over it," Shade spat at Shikamaru.

"Yeah, we're going to be training together!" Naruto added. "How do you like that?"

"Humph," Shikamaru huffed in a doubtful manner.

"Wait, we've got to train with this loser?" Shade asked, pointing to Shikamaru. "Man, I don't want my skills to suffer because of this dweeb!"

Naruto laughed and Shikamaru moved on.

Shade looked around the room and noticed his sister staring at Naruto with a blush. He then saw a bit of drool escaping the corner of her mouth, so he quickly and quietly made his way over to her, walked up behind her, and snapped his fingers in front of her face.

This brought her back to reality and made her give a quiet squeak of surprise. She then spun around to face her smirking brother.

"S-Shade? Why did you—?"

"You're drooling, Sis," Shade answered quietly before she could finish.

Hinata's blush intensified and she wiped the drool away.

"Just make sure that you pay attention to your surroundings the next time you fantasize about Naruto."

And with that Hinata turned beet red and Shade returned to his seat with an evil smirk.

 ** _I've decided. You're the demon. I'm the honorable human._**

 _Oh come on, you know that was funny! Besides, wasn't that more merciful than letting her make a fool of herself?_

 ** _You'll make an excellent saboteur someday, Shade, as you seem to be very skilled at causing trouble and mischief wherever you go._**

 _Why, thank you._

 ** _It wasn't a compliment._**

 _To me it was._

Soon enough, two girls walked in… well, really they shoved in, coming in at the exact same time and then arguing about who made it in first. One of the girls was that blond girl from the academy and the other was Sakura.

"Shut up or make out already!" Shade suddenly shouted, dropping the jaw of everyone in the classroom. "I mean, Jesus Christ, come on! It's a freaking door! How old are you, five?!"

The girls looked ready to kill him, but he wasn't worried. They could hate him all they wanted as long as they didn't lay their hands on him. Then he'd eat them alive.

Suddenly, the two changed their attitudes completely. Sakura was the first to run forward.

Shade readied himself for a fight. That is, until he saw Naruto blushing out of the corner of his eyes.

 _Darn, that's right, Hinata told me about how Naruto has a crush on Sakura. She was nearly in tears when she said it. Well, I don't want to make Naruto angry, so I won't hit her. I will, however, put the fear of God in her._

Sakura ran forward and almost grabbed onto Shade to throw him out the way until she saw his eyes. They were bloodshot and angry, but more than that, they emanated a feeling of foreboding so strong it was as if one was staring into the eyes of death. She immediately backed off and Shade allowed his eyes to return to normal.

"Sorry about that," he said as he calmly looked forward from his seat, "But I _really_ don't like it when people lay their hands on me."

Sakura seemed to shake off her fear, but she didn't touch Shade. Instead, she spoke to her target from where she was.

"Good morning, Sasuke," she said to the boy beside him.

Shade turned to see how Sasuke reacted to this. Sasuke simply looked at her, then looked forward.

"Mind if I sit with you?" she asked.

"Still here and not moving," Shade said.

Sakura gave him a dirty look but moved on. Shade then noticed that every girl in the room besides Hinata was switching in between glaring at him in hate and glaring at Sakura in jealousy.

 _This is one creepy obsession they have for him._

 ** _Definitely._**

"How do you get anything done with these girls constantly harassing you?" Shade asked Sasuke. "You should just tell them all to leave you alone."

"They aren't worth my time," Sasuke responded.

"Hm… I suppose you're right."

Suddenly, Naruto was crouching on the desk in front of Sasuke and dead-eyeing him. Sasuke returned the evil look.

"Naruto!" Sakura yelled from across the room. "Hey, stop glaring at Sasuke!"

Naruto looked at Sakura with a hurt expression then went back to glaring at Sasuke. Shade could tell what he was thinking without the Mind Reader Jutsu.

 _He doesn't get why they're all obsessed with Sasuke._

 _T_ _ **o be honest, neither do I.**_

 _Same here; but then again, we aren't girls._

"Naruto, sit down," Shade finally said, "It's not his fault every girl in the class besides Hinata is obsessed with him. Besides, it's best to make friends, not enemies."

With that, Naruto grumbled and got back in his seat.

"Sorry about that," Shade said to Sasuke, "he's still learning."

Shade then held out his hand to Sasuke. "I don't think we've been properly introduced yet; my name is Shade Aru. You're Sasuke Uchiha, right?"

Sasuke's eyes seemed to light up in curiosity at the name "Aru". He still didn't take Shade's hand, though, so Shade lowered it.

"Aru, huh?" he said quietly, "I heard you guys had more extensive abilities in copying than even my clan."

Shade rubbed the back of his head in a bashful manner. "Well yeah, thanks to our Arugan and some of our other abilities, but the Sharingan is much more powerful in every other subject. I've even copied it for that very purpose, though I'm not sure if I can use it yet. It takes a lot out of me whenever I try, and I don't even think that I fully understand.."

It wasn't a complete lie; the only part that wasn't truthful was the reasoning behind Shade copying it. In all honesty, he had no idea why he copied it since he didn't remember.

Sasuke seemed shocked by this. "You can copy Kekkei Genkai?"

"Yeah," Shade said with a smile, "that's what gave us more extensive copying abilities than the Uchiha. Though we still can't copy any movement we see; it has to involve chakra. I hear the Sharingan can even copy someone's handwriting and simple body movement, which is something the Arugan can't do."

"I see," Sasuke responded.

"Maybe we'll get to spar one day and show off which one's eyes are better," Shade said with an even wider smile.

It was barely visible, but Sasuke seemed to give a slight smile when Shade said that. "Yeah, maybe," he responded.

"Alright everyone, three to a desk please," Iruka shouted as he entered the classroom.

Sakura instantly appeared between Shade and Sasuke.

"What the—?" Shade was instantly dumbstruck by the fact that Sakura had moved that fast.

 _Maybe she isn't as weak as I thought._

 ** _Or maybe she just had enough motivation._**

Sasuke looked really annoyed with the new seating arrangements. Everyone else went to their seats as well. Naruto sat at a desk with two random ninja now, still sitting right in front of Shade.

"As of today," Iruka sensei began, "you are all Ninjas. To get here, you have all faced difficult trials and hardships."

Shade heard a woman's scream when Iruka said the word "hardships". He knew it was in his head since it sounded just like his mother, so he just ignored it for now.

"But that's nothing," Iruka continued. "What comes next will be far more difficult. Now you are only Genin; first level Ninjas.

"Normally, all the Genin would be grouped into three man squads. This time, however, we have an irregular number of Ninjas, so there will be one squad of four Genin. Every other squad, however, will only have three. Each squad will be led by a Jonin; an elite Ninja."

 _Ooh, I wonder if Naruto and I will be in the four man squad._

 ** _You and he both do seem to end up in strange situations often, so probably._**

 _Wait, what does that mean?_

 ** _It means your lives make a comedy, now pay attention._**

Immediately, Shade had to ignore Sakura and Ino arguing. Ino was sitting behind Sakura, so this argument was occurring right between Sasuke and Shade.

"We want each squad to have a balance of strength and abilities," Iruka once again continued, "so that's how we set them up. I will now announce the squads."

Shade leaned forward as Iruka began calling out the names of each squad's members. He made it through six squads before he started listing off people Shade recognized.

"Squad seven, which will be our four man squad, will include: Naruto Uzumaki,"

Naruto's posture changed to show he was now interested.

"Sakura Haruno,"

Sakura looked depressed while Naruto stood up and shouted "Yeah!" in excitement.

"Sasuke Uchiha,"

Sasuke didn't say a word, Naruto became depressed, and Sakura jumped up and shouted "Aah!" in joy.

"And, the fourth member, Shade Aru!"

Naruto sat back up and smiled, Sakura sat back down and moaned, and Shade could have sworn that Sasuke smirked for a split second.

As for Shade, he had an evil grin on his face.

"Let the games begin," he said darkly.

Shade noticed his sister with a saddened look on her face out of the corner of his eye.

 _Poor girl; I'll have to gently steer Naruto away from Sakura and towards her._

 ** _Maybe you do have a heart._**

 _Well, she is my little sister, and besides, she and Naruto… wait, was she the one who married Naruto? I can't remember!_

 ** _I suppose we'll just have to 'wing it' as you humans say._**

 _I suppose._

"Next, squad eight: Hinata Hyuga,"

Shade saw Hinata snap to attention.

"Yes sir," she said lightly.

"Kiba Inuzuka,"

The only other student in the class who looked as animalistic as Shade sat up and grinned like a mad dog.

"Shino Aburame,"

A boy with sunglasses and a trench coat pushed his sunglasses further up.

Sakura turned around and gave a peace sign to Ino.

"Grr, how did _you_ get in his group?!" Ino questioned.

Sakura simply smirked.

"Grr!" Ino responded.

"I don't get it," said Shikamaru who was sitting directly behind Sasuke and next to Ino. "What do you see in a guy like that? He's not so special."

"You are so beyond clueless, Shikamaru," Ino chastised, "Don't you get it?"

"No one gets it," Shade smarted off.

Ino simply sighed. "You two are so full of yourselves. Jealousy's a terrible thing. I'd hate to be in a squad with either of you."

"If jealousy is so terrible, doesn't that make you a terrible person since you're so jealous of Sakura being in a squad with Sasuke?" Shade asked with a smirk.

Ino growled and Sakura had to stifle a laugh.

"Now squad ten: Ino Yamanaka,"

Ino blinked.

"Shikamaru Nara,"

Ino's mouth opened in shock and Shade's smirk grew.

"Ha!" Shikamaru laughed. "Did you say something about hating to be on my squad?"

"Grr," was once again Ino's response.

"Ouch," Shade said. "Maybe you aren't so bad after all, Shikamaru."

" _And_ Choji Akimichi,"

Shade saw Shikamaru and Ino look over to a heavy-set kid who was stuffing his face. His smirk grew even more as he saw Ino groan and lower her head in defeat.

Choji sent a dangerous look towards Ino.

"I think he noticed your reaction, Ino," Shade said trying not to laugh, "and he doesn't look very happy."

"Those are all the squads," Iruka said, finally done.

"Iruka sensei!" Naruto called out as he stood up and pointed at Sasuke, "Why does a great Ninja like me have to be in the same group with a slug like Sasuke?!"

"Sit down, Naruto!" Shade called. "What did I tell you about friends and enemies?"

Naruto looked back at him in confusion.

"Naruto, from what I've heard, he's not such a slug," Shade explained. "And besides, you don't have many friends here besides me, so maybe you should try to befriend him, not hate him. It's not his fault these creeps all worship him. You can't hate him for that, so chill out!"

"Fine," Naruto said grumpily as he sat down.

"Sorry Sasuke," Shade said. "Naruto's stronger than he looks, but he's still immature."

Sasuke gave a light grunt in response while Sakura glared at Naruto.

"Hey, don't be mad at him," Shade said to her. "You're just as bad for harassing Sasuke every day."

"What? I don't— I mean—"

"Yeah, yeah, just sit back and shut up."

"Humph!" Sakura crossed her arms and angrily turned away from Shade, who couldn't care less.

"Ahem!" Iruka cleared his throat, regaining the attention of the class. "After lunch, you will meet your new Jonin teachers. Until then, class dismissed!"

-o-

Naruto and Shade walked outside to see a slightly downcast Sakura.

"Hey, Sakura!" Naruto called out to her, getting her to turn around.

 _Damn it, Naruto, I don't want to eat lunch with her!_

 ** _A shame you don't know anyone else besides Hinata, and she's going to lunch with her new squad mates._**

 _Don't remind me._

"Since we're in the same squad and all," Naruto continued, "I was thinking we could have lunch together and get to know each other!"

"Why would _I_ eat lunch with _you_?!" Sakura responded snidely. "How could that thought even cross your mind?"

"I don't know," Shade sarcastically began, "maybe so someone (Shade started making fake coughs and slid in the word "me" at this point) doesn't _accidentally_ stab you in the back on a mission thinking you're an imposter."

Shade's smirk once again appeared as Sakura paled.

"Let's go, Naruto," Shade said to his friend. "It would be best if we found Sasuke and got to know him so you two would stop arguing. I'd prefer to be friends with a teammate who can actually fight, anyways."

With that, Shade turned and began tracking Sasuke by scent. As he was leaving, he saw that Sakura had a look of hurt on her face, but that just made him happier. She wanted to hurt Naruto so badly, so Shade was more than happy to give her a taste of what that felt like.

"Why'd you do that?!" Naruto shouted once Sakura was out of sight.

Shade stopped and quickly turned to face him, then said, "Because she was being an insufferable pain!"

Shade noticed the angry expression on Naruto's face and calmed himself down while holding up a hand.

"Look Naruto, we've only been friends for a short while now, but I still feel like I should try and help you out here."

Naruto's expression turned to one of confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Look, I know this is hard to hear, but Sakura isn't a good person. She's treated you like crap for how long now, despite your best attempts at trying to be nice? Go after a girl who isn't a jerk that's totally obsessed with Sasuke, like, say… Hinata Hyuga!"

"Hinata? You mean your sister?" Naruto asked, still looking confused. "Why would I go after her?"

"Well…" Shade said, scratching his chin. "First of all, she's the only girl I've seen in our class who hasn't tried to bash your skull in. Second of all, she isn't obsessed with Sasuke. Third of all, I'd bet serious money on the fact that most guys would rate her as much more pretty and nice than Sakura, so she'd probably be willing to go out with you as long as you asked."

 _I hope I'm doing this right._

 ** _I wouldn't know._**

 _Thanks for the help._

 ** _Anytime._**

"So, what do you think? I know you like Sakura, but you've got to let her go. You're stubborn, but I know you're not stupid; anyone could see that she's a lost cause."

Naruto lowered his head in defeat. "Yeah, you're right," he said sadly. "I'm just gonna need some time to think about it."

Shade placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder.

"That's perfectly fine. Now let's go get some ramen!"

-o-

Shade was walking around while Naruto was eating at Ichiraku. Shade had eaten just as much as Naruto normally does, but he had downed it much faster since Naruto was in a rather down mood and eating slowly because of it.

Suddenly, Shade spotted Sasuke approaching Sakura further down the path from him.

"Oh, Sasuke!" she cried.

 _Oh boy._

 ** _Is it possible for someone to be sick without a body?_**

 _With this level of disgust, anything's possible._

"Sakura, where's Shade and Naruto?" Sasuke asked. "I wanted to ask them a few things."

"Oh, I don't know. Besides, Naruto always picks fights with you, and Shade's a jerk.

Shade hid behind a tree.

 _This I've got to hear._

 ** _And so the movie begins._**

"Ya know, I think they behave that way because neither one of them have any real parents; no one to teach them right from wrong."

Shade froze. He heard screaming and cries for help and he began to feel a great deal of fear. He quickly shook it off, but he wasn't happy with the way Sakura had said that like it was no big deal.

 ** _Shade, stay calm please._**

 _I'm trying, but now I kind of want her head on a pike..._

 ** _She doesn't know what she's saying, Shade, so just stay calm._**

"Think about it; they just do whatever comes into their heads, all because they don't have any parents to teach them better."

Shade looked around the tree as he tried to calm down.

"If I did things like Naruto or Shade do, forget it!" Sakura continued, hand on hips. "My parents would kill me! They're actually kind of lucky."

 _LUCKY?!_

 ** _SHADE, CALM DOWN!_**

 _I'M GOING TO TEAR HER THROAT OUT! I HEAR MY FAMILY'S SCREAMS EVERY NIGHT AND SEE THEIR CORPSES WHENEVER I CLOSE MY EYES, AND SHE THINKS THAT I'M LUCKY!? I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT KILLED THEM, SO I'LL NEVER BE ABLE TO EXACT JUSTICE, AND SHE ACTS LIKE IT'S A BLESSING!_

 ** _SHADE, JUST BREATHE, DAMN IT!_**

"I mean, if you don't have parents, then no one can teach you right from wrong or punish you severely, so they can do whatever they want because they're all alone!"

 _BLOOOOOOOOD!_

 ** _SHADE, NO!_**

Shade was gripping the tree, trying not to run after the girl, but he seriously wanted to tear her arms off and beat her to death with them.

"Alone," Sasuke said coldly, facing away from Sakura, "Isolated."

Shade stopped. He felt his anger disperse. Something about Sasuke's tone made him listen intently.

"Huh?" Sakura asked.

"It's not about your parents scolding you," Sasuke continued. "You have no idea what it means to be alone."

 _The Uchiha… they were slaughtered too…_

 ** _Oh, thank God. I thought you were going to kill her._**

 _I almost was._

 ** _Well, let's try to avoid that._**

 _Agreed._

Shade stepped out from behind the tree and began to walk towards the two.

"W-why are you saying that?" Sakura asked.

"Because he knows what it's like to be alone, just like Naruto and myself," Shade said loudly, gaining the attention of his teammates. "Every day, I hear my family screaming and begging for mercy right before my father knocked me out to save me. Every time I close my eyes, I see their corpses littered throughout the halls of my home just like when I first woke up. You think you know us, Sakura, but you don't! And you likely never will."

Shade then turned to Sasuke, ignoring Sakura's horrified expression. "You wanted to see me and Naruto?"

"Yeah," Sasuke said. "You kept telling Naruto to stop bothering me and to act more polite. Then you tried to befriend me. Why?"

"Well," Shade said, rubbing the back of his head. "You act like I used to, so I figured I could get along with you. Plus, I'm willing to bet that the three of us would make a good team. I've got hundreds of jutsu, Naruto has an unbelievable amount of chakra, and from what I've heard, I'd say you've got some pretty good skills in combat. This, added onto the fact that we all know… what it's like… well, it could make us great for training together. We could all gain unbelievable strength in very little time, plus an incredible ability to work as a cohesive unit."

Sasuke smirked. "I see. So then, where's Naruto?"

"Well he's… getting over some things right now," Shade answered, glancing to Sakura who had sat back down on the bench, tears now flowing down her face. "However, I'm sure he'll be just fine soon enough."

Sasuke nodded, then turned away and threw his hand up in a gesture of goodbye as he walked off.

Shade then turned and looked at Sakura.

"Ya know, Sakura, maybe you should be a little nicer and understanding if you want to win Sasuke over. Instead, all you did was insult him and almost get me to kill you," he said.

Sakura looked up at him with an expression of surprise.

"I act the way I do because all of you are so cruel to Naruto. He doesn't deserve such harsh treatment, no matter the pranks he's pulled. He was always nice to you, and you treated him like dirt. That probably didn't earn you any points in Sasuke's book, either.

"Now, I've already convinced Naruto to try and get over you, so just in case you might be thinking about trying to go out with him as a rebound or even because you feel sorry for him, don't. Also, I want you to remember something,"

Shade leaned down and got in the poor girl's face. He showed her all the rage he could muster in his eyes, which, even without the intimidation ability he used on her before, could paralyze most people.

"If you ever talk about me being lucky because my family isn't around again, I'll slaughter everyone you love just to show you how it feels. Then, when you're saddened and begging for death, I'll slowly torture you by ripping your skin off and letting you bleed out that way."

Shade then stood up, ignoring the absolutely terrified expression Sakura had as he walked back to the academy.

-o-

 _ **(Unstable, right? Well, that was the goal. Shade is completely nuts. It's one of his downsides. Please don't forget to review. I know people don't like this story, but I'm gonna keep making it anyways. After all; I've seen Naruto stories with both WAY more OP abilities than Shade's and such terrible grammatical and spelling errors that entire paragraphs were illegible, so I don't think that this story is that bad.)**_


	5. Chapter 4: New Teacher!

**_(I LIVE! I have another chapter here. It's likely not going to be appreciated because of an event that happens which I suppose I could have put more effort into. Whatever. This book was meant to help e practice my fight scenes anyways, though I did try to do decent with the plot. I OWN NOTHING!)_**

-o-

"He's late," Naruto called out.

"We hadn't noticed," Shade said sarcastically as he leaned back and kicked his feet onto a desk at the very back and middle of the room.

Squad Seven was currently the only squad left in the classroom after the Jonin teachers had all come through and picked up their students. Naruto was looking out the door, Sakura was leaning against a desk with her eyes still red and puffy from crying, and Sasuke was sitting nonchalantly at the desk closest to the door.

"Come on, Naruto, just sit," Shade said.

"I don't want to," Naruto said as he turned back around to face them all. "How come our teacher's the only one that's late? I'm ready to roll, believe it!"

"Well then, maybe he's testing us," Shade said. "And if he is, it would be best to sit down and remain calm, so as not to show weakness. Also, it'll be good to have some conversation."

Naruto grumbled a bit, then sat down for fifteen minutes while talking to Shade. Everything was going well until Shade snapped a bit.

"Alright, it's been a half hour, and that's the testing limit," he said agitatedly. "Naruto, any pranks up your sleeve?"

Naruto grinned like an idiot.

"Plenty!"

"Well, let's start with something small," Shade said.

Naruto thought for a moment before he stood up and walked to the front and grabbed a chalk eraser from the board.

"Good, that should make him look like an idiot without making him too mad," Shade said with a slight smile.

Naruto seemed a bit disappointed that this was all they would be doing, but he said nothing.

"Our teacher's a Jonin, an elite ninja," Sasuke said, finally speaking up. "You think he'd fall for that?"

"Well, if he's this late," Shade said, "then it might be on accident, so he might rush to get here. If that's the case, then maybe he will. If he doesn't, then oh well, no harm done, right?"

"He'll probably punish us by making us do exercises or something," Sakura said, finally speaking up.

Shade was in a better mood, so he decided against giving her a dirty look.

"Ah, maybe, but that'll just help to strengthen us up more, so he'd only be helping us in the long run," Shade explained.

Naruto and Shade sat back down and started talking again.

Soon enough, a hand with a fingerless shinobi glove appeared in the doorway and began opening up the door. A head quickly followed behind the hand and poked through the doorway just in time to be struck by the chalk eraser.

Naruto busted out laughing and Shade eyed the head suspiciously.

 _He purposely fell for that._

 ** _I think you're right. He's an odd one. Be careful._**

 _Got it._

The ninja had white, spikey hair, a mask that covered his mouth and nose, and a Leaf headband that fell down over his left eye.

"I'm sorry sensei, I told them not to," Sakura told him. She continued to give apologies while Shade eyed him.

The guy leaned over and picked up the eraser, causing Sakura to shut up with his movement. He then stood up straight.

"Hm... how can I put this?" the man asked as he leaned back his head and placed his hand on his chin. "My first impression of this group… you're a bunch of idiots."

The others looked a little crestfallen at this but Shade jumped onto his table and shouted, "AND PROUD OF IT!"

He then jumped to the front of the room and smiled at his new teacher.

 _Let's see if we can have some fun with this guy._

 ** _I think I recognize him. Kakashi, I believe it was, and I remember your grandfather, my previous Jinchūriki, talking to him about a training test he had put into use right after he started taking on teams. I believe it was… oh… hahahaha… HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!_**

 _What's so funny?_

-o-

"Alright, so why don't you introduce yourselves?" Kakashi said, "One at a time."

The team was sitting on a public rooftop terrace. Kakashi had taken them there saying that they needed a team meeting place for whenever they all needed to meet up. Kakashi was sitting on a railing while the four Genin were sitting on some steps facing him.

"Introduce ourselves?" Sakura asked. "Well, what are we supposed to say?"

"Things you like, things you hate," Kakashi began, holding up his hands in a gesture that meant it should be obvious, "dreams for the future, hobbies; things like that."

Shade smiled. He was glad he would finally be able to learn some interesting things about Sakura and Sasuke. Sakura and Naruto looked interested as well, but Sasuke seemed unconcerned with any of it.

"Why don't you tell us stuff first?" Naruto asked. "I mean, before we talk, tell us about you so we can see how it's supposed to work."

"Me?" the team's sensei asked as he pointed to himself. "My name's Kakashi Hatake. Things I like and things I hate… I don't feel like telling you that."

"Huh?" Naruto and Sakura asked in unison.

 _Oh God, he's one of those._

 ** _One of those what?_**

 _One of those next level anti-socials that refuse to tell anyone anything about themselves._

 ** _Oh, those… yes, that does seem to be the case._**

"My dreams for the future," Kakashi continued, "never really thought about it."

Kakashi then looked up before continuing with, "As for my hobbies… I have lots of hobbies."

"Well that was totally useless," Sakura whispered to the boys. "All he really told us was his name."

"Uh-huh," Naruto agreed.

"Okay, your turn," Kakashi said, "You on the right; you first."

Naruto was sitting on the right. Shade was right beside him and Sasuke was beside Shade while Sakura was beside Sasuke on the far left.

"Believe it!" Naruto began, messing with his headband. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki! I like instant ramen in a cup and I really like the ramen Iruka sensei got me at the Ichiraku noodle shop. But I hate the three minutes you have to wait after you pour the water in the ramen cup.

"My hobby is eating different kinds of ramen and comparing them, and my future dream is…" Naruto stood up and pointed to the sky, "to be the greatest Hokage! Then the whole village will stop disrespecting me and start treating me like I'm somebody, somebody important!"

Shade smiled.

 _Naruto sure is one weird kid._

 ** _But in a good way, right?_**

 _There's another kind of weird?_

"Next," Kakashi called, looking at Sakura expectantly.

"I'm Sakura Haruno!" she said cheerfully, "What I like, uh, I mean, the person I like…"

Sakura trailed off with a blush on her cheeks and a shy smile on her face as she looked at Sasuke.

"Yeah, yeah; you only care about Sasuke and want to grow old with him. That covers likes, plans, dreams, and I'm willing to bet more than a few creepy hobbies. Now, tell us some hates."

Sakura glared at Shade before sighing in defeat and then saying, "I hate it when people get in between me and my goals, like _Ino_."

 _I thought she was gonna say me and Naruto._

 ** _As did I; maybe she's starting to be more understanding._**

 _Or maybe she's just scared of what I'll do to her._

 ** _Also possible… and likely._**

"Next," Kakashi said as he looked at Sasuke, "How about you?"

"My name," Sasuke began quietly, "is Sasuke Uchiha. I hate a lot of things, and I don't particularly _like_ anything."

Sakura, who had been staring at Sasuke dreamily, looked as if she had suddenly gotten a chill. Shade didn't blame her as he felt a hate equal to his own enter the air, only it seemed more focused, as if it had a target.

"What I have isn't a dream," Sasuke continued darkly, "because I _will_ make it a reality. I'm going to restore my clan and destroy a certain someone."

 _His brother..._

 ** _Itachi Uchiha..._**

Everyone simply stared at Sasuke until Shade spoke up.

"Well, it looks like it's my turn," he said. "My name is Shade Aru. I like fighting since it takes the edge off of the screaming, which is something I only recently discovered. I hate people who act pampered. My plans for the future… well, I plan to continue on with the life of a ninja until it either kills me or forces me to retire. My dreams… I dream of one day seeing my little sister wed and with a family of her own."

Shade smiled at the end. He may be a nut case, but he still cared about his sister, even if that was one of only, oh, say… six people?

"Good," Kakashi said. "You're each unique and you have your own ideas. We'll have our first mission tomorrow."

Naruto gave a little salute. "What kind of mission are we going to have?" he asked.

"It's a task that the five of us will do together," Kakashi answered.

"Whatwhatwhat?!" Naruto pestered.

"A survival exercise," Kakashi said as he eyed the four.

"Huh, survival exercise?" Naruto questioned even more.

"I thought we were supposed to have a real mission, not more practice!" Sakura complained. "We already did this stuff at the academy; that's how we got here."

"This is not like your previous training," Kakashi assured them.

"Sounds fun already," Shade responded with a grin. His previous training had been meditating and reading scrolls, plus a few hundred boring chakra exercises.

"So uh, what kind of training is it then?" Naruto asked.

Kakashi laughed and Shade's neck hair stood on end. Kakashi's laugh sent signals of danger through his spine and he was certain Kakashi had a dark side to him after that.

"Hey, hold on," Sakura said, "That's a normal question; what's so funny?"

"Well, if I tell you the answer, you're not going to like it," the man responded.

"Huh?" Naruto intelligently asked.

"Of the twenty-eight graduates who just came here, only nine, or, if this group passes, then ten, will actually be accepted as Genin," Kakashi explained. "The other eighteen or nineteen will be weeded out and sent back to the academy.

"In other words, this is a make-it-or-break-it, pass/fail test, and the chance that you'll fail is at least sixty-six percent."

To say they were shocked would be an understatement when referring to the apparently would-be Genin.

"See?" Kakashi asked, "Didn't I tell you you wouldn't like it?"

"That's crazy!" Naruto shouted. "We worked hard to get here! Believe it! What was that graduation test for, anyway?!"

"Oh, that," Kakashi said, "That was just to select the candidates who _might_ become Genin… or not."

"Whaaaat?" was Naruto's intellectual response.

"That's how it is," Kakashi stated. " _I_ decide whether you pass or fail. Be at the designated training spot at five A.M, and bring your ninja gear."

Naruto looked like he was about to either slug Kakashi right in the jaw or crap himself, and Shade couldn't blame him. The kid went through hell just to get this far, and now it might all be for naught, though Shade was going to do everything in his power to make sure otherwise.

Shade focused back on Kakashi for the time being, watching as the ninja turned around.

"That's it, you're dismissed," Kakashi said, dismissively throwing a hand in the air and waving it. "Oh, tomorrow, you'd better skip breakfast or else you'll puke.

 _That is something I cannot do._

 ** _No cheating, Shade._**

 _Being a ninja is all about cheating. I'll just eat something light and stable._

 ** _Whatever._**

-o-

Shade woke up and hopped out of bed early in the morning. He washed up, got dressed, grabbed his gear, ate a few pieces of bread, then began jogging towards the exit of the compound… until he almost ran into someone.

"Whoa!" Shade yelled. He front-flipped over whoever it was and they dove low the moment they saw his feet leave the ground.

"S-sorry brother!" Hinata stammered after he landed.

Shade spun around and glared at his sister.

"What did I tell you about that?" he barked.

Hinata shuffled her feet and looked down.

"A-about what?" she asked nervously.

Shade then smiled, wrapped his arms around his sister, and lifted her into the air in a big bear hug while spinning her around.

"About acting all nervous around me!" he laughed out.

He felt Hinata relax and he even heard her laugh a bit. The two really were very close, so this was nothing new. It was kind of like a game between them.

"Please, brother, I have to go take the final test with Kurenai sensei and my squad!" she laughed out, getting Shade to set her down.

"Alright, small fry, I'll let you go this time; just make sure you destroy that test!" Shade said as he laid his hand on her head, "By the way; nice reflexes! You're improving really quickly! Oh, and I have a surprise for you later."

Hinata blushed at the praise until she heard the last part. "Wait, what surprise?"

Shade then leaned over her shoulder and covered his mouth as he whispered, "I got Naruto to drop the subject with Sakura and steered him in your direction a bit. No guarantees, but I think he'll be asking you out pretty soon."

Hinata had never been seen so red without being unconscious.

"W-what?!" she questioned fearfully.

"Relax, Hinata," Shade said, holding up his hands. "I just told him that maybe, after he was over Sakura completely, he should try asking you out since you were the only girl in his class who wasn't creepily worshiping Sasuke. I made it seem as if I was using cold logic and nothing else."

Hinata made a strange sound and opened her mouth as if she was going to speak, but then she bolted out of the compound.

"Well that went better than expected," Shade remarked as he stared at the dust cloud forming behind his sister.

-o-

"Morning," Sakura yawned out as the four ninjas closed in on the day's meeting spot.

She was rubbing her eyes and moving around like she hadn't woken up yet.

"Ehhhhh, monin," was Naruto's only response. He was walking around like a moving corpse.

Sasuke said nothing and appeared to be totally unfazed by the early meeting time.

Shade stood up straight, breathed in all the air he possibly could, and let it out as loud as he could.

"GOOOOOOOOD MOOOOOOOORNIIIIIING!" Shade shouted at the top of his lungs.

Sakura and Naruto nearly jumped out of their skins while Sasuke eyed him questioningly.

"They'd just hinder us if they stayed sleepy the whole time," Shade told his unfazed teammate.

Naruto and Sakura both began shouting at him, but he didn't pay any attention. He simply sat down, broke out a thermos, and began drinking a special blend of tea that had been passed down through the Hyuga clan for generations. Hinata had shown him how it was made and Shade now drank it every morning since it promoted healthy muscle growth and a limber body.

 _It's going to be a beautiful day today._

 ** _A good day to succeed._**

 _Couldn't have said it better myself, old friend._

-o-

The sun had risen into the sky by a great deal once Kakashi finally showed up.

"Morning everyone," Kakashi said, surprising Naruto and Sakura, both of whom had completely missed his appearance, "Ready for your first day?"

"Hey, you're late!" they both shouted after recovering from their surprise.

"Well a black cat crossed my path, so I had to take the long way," Kakashi explained.

 ** _Cat? WHERE?!_**

 _Calm down you psychotic mutt; there's no cat. He's lying._

 ** _I don't like cats._**

 _Which is something I'll never understand._

Naruto made a suspicious groaning noise while Sakura gave him the evil eye. Sasuke gave a look that showed he was calling Kakashi's bluff and Shade gave an "I-know-you're-lying" smirk.

"Well," Kakashi said, changing the subject. "Ahem. Let's get started."

Kakashi pulled a timer out from his pack and set it on a wooden post.

"Here we go," he said, pressing down the button to turn on the timer. "It's set for noon."

"Hm?" Naruto questioned.

Kakashi pulled three bells from his pocket.

 _Damn it!_

 ** _Ha! Surprise!_**

 _Screw you! I read about this training already, and it's always hell because the teams never… realize what it is._

 ** _See? You already know the trick, so it won't affect you. No harm done in my little surprise._**

 _Still evil._

 ** _Look who's talking._**

 _Fair point._

"Your assignment is very simple," Kakashi said as he was looking at the bells. "You just have to take these bells from me. That's all there is to it."

He jingled the bells for emphasis.

"If you can't get them by noon, you go without lunch," Kakashi continued.

"Wha-?!" Naruto responded intellectually.

"You'll be tied to those posts and you'll watch while I eat my lunch in front of you."

 _I like him._

 ** _You would._**

Shade looked over to the posts Kakashi was referring to and saw the timer on the middle one.

 _Noon, huh? I wonder if I can convince the others to work with me on this by then._

 ** _Maybe, maybe not._**

Naruto was groaning in despair while Sakura and Sasuke looked completely drained.

 _What's the matter with—?_

Someone's stomach growled.

 _Oh._

 ** _They didn't cheat. Plus, you're about to cheat again since you already know the training. Not off to a very honorable start to your ninja career._**

Shade shook his head and refocused on his new sensei.

"Wait a minute," Sakura said, suddenly perking up, "There's four of us!"

 _She caught it._

 ** _About time._**

 _Still faster than the other two._

 ** _Yep, definitely gonna have to work on that with them._**

 _No argument there._

"How come there's only three bells?" she finished.

Kakashi clearly gave a cheeky smile under his mask.

"Well, that way," Kakashi said, "one of you will end up tied to a post and ultimately disqualified for failing to complete the mission."

Kakashi jangled the bells again.

"That one goes back to the academy."

 _I'll be the one willing to take that hit, but will the others believe me?_

 ** _Naruto might, and maybe Sasuke will, but Sakura will just suspect you of setting her up._**

 _Oh joy._

Naruto growled in determination.

"The again," Kakashi said, "All three of you could flunk out, too."

Kakashi's face then seemed to change back to unreadable underneath his mask.

"You can use any weapons, including shuriken. If you're not prepared to kill me, you won't be able to take the bells."

"Those weapons are too dangerous, Sensei!" Sakura cried.

"He's a Jonin, Sakura," Shade said. "I doubt we'll ever hit him."

Naruto looked like he was about to make a joke, but Shade tapped him on the shoulder shook his head.

"Well, if that's all," Kakashi said, "when I say start, you can begin."

"Psst; guys," Shade whispered, hiding his face from Kakashi behind Naruto's head. The other ninjas all tensed up to show that they heard him and where listening.

"Look, there's no way we can beat him on our own," Shade whispered. "He's obviously trying to pit us against each other, so I say we work together. I'll use my taijutsu and ninjutsu to distract him for a short time while you guys grab the bells. Naruto, I'd appreciate a few clones for backup, and Sasuke, I could use a few surprise attacks from you as well. Sakura, I want you throwing all the weapons you've got at him."

Sakura and Sasuke looked at him suspiciously out of the corners of their eyes, but they nodded. Naruto gave a thumbs-up and a grin.

"Alright then," Shade said, standing up straight. "Let's do this."

 _I'm terrified._

 ** _You should be._**

 _Gee, thanks._

 ** _Honesty is the best policy._**

 _Shut up._

"Get ready," Kakashi said.

Shade's teammates all got ready to jump off into the surrounding forest, but Shade prepared himself for a different action.

"And… start!"

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura all jumped, purposely kicking up a cloud of dust and hiding Shade from Kakashi's view.

 _Thank you Squad Seven!_

 ** _Now, Shade!_**

Shade bolted forward with all the speed he could muster, surprising Kakashi when he appeared from the dust cloud. He then jumped, turned to where he was horizontal to the ground, and began rapidly spinning. While spinning in the air, he continued to move towards Kakashi at a breakneck speed.

Kakashi's eyes widened a bit when he saw Shade's one outstretched arm. It was facing so that the back of Shade's fist would strike down on the top of Kakashi's head… if it hit, of course.

"Key Lock Roller Fist!" Shade yelled as his fist came down… and struck a log.

 _Damn it!_

The Log shattered to splinters once struck. Shade stretched out his legs and caught himself from falling by landing on his feet. He then straightened up and shouted, "Byakugan!"

Shade's eyes turned white and gained bulging veins around them while still surrounded by the black rings. This gave him a horrifying appearance.

"Got ya!" he shouted as he punched the ground with a chakra enhanced punch, completely shattering the earth and forcing Kakashi to leap into the air from the crevices before he was crushed by the colliding rocks.

"Now!" Shade yelled.

Suddenly, several Naruto shadow clones and shuriken attacked Kakashi. He caught all of the shuriken, but while he was disabling the clones, the real thing jumped out of the trees and snatched a bell from Kakashi's belt.

"I got it!" Naruto shouted.

"More clones!" Shade shouted as he made his own army of twelve and attacked Kakashi again. He tried using regular kicks and punches since the Key Lock didn't work so well when fighting together with clones or allies.

Naruto put his bell away and summoned more clones.

"Excellent work," Kakashi said calmly, "You two are using teamwork well, but tell me; do you honestly expect to beat me all by yourselves?"

"Sasuke!" Shade yelled as he and Naruto attacked Kakashi again, supported by another wave of shuriken

Kakashi landed, dodged the clones and shuriken, and then almost got burned alive by a fireball.

"What?!" Kakashi yelled, "No way!"

Sasuke jumped out and grabbed a bell the moment he became distracted with the fireball. Kakashi then jumped out of the way and faced Shade.

"Very clever," Kakashi said, "But now it's the moment of truth; who's going to get a bell and who's going back to the academy?"

"Naruto, Sasuke, wherever you are, get lost! I don't need him trying to steal any bells back!" Shade yelled into the surrounding forest.

Suddenly, a wall of weapons came at Kakashi opposite from Shade, followed by a wall of clones, then a wall of fire.

Kakashi's eye grew wide.

Shade's eyes did too.

 _Those idiots! I'm here too!_

Suddenly, something tackled into Shade from the side and got him out of the way of the weapons; something orange.

"I got ya!" Naruto yelled.

Shade smiled.

 _It's good to have friends._

 ** _I told you so._**

 _Ah, shove it you old mutt._

Kakashi leaped high into the air to evade the attacks, but then a pink and red blur zipped past him and snatched a bell off his belt. That same blur then fell from the sky and landed on top of a pile of orange clad clones which had suddenly appeared and piled up to act as a big cushion.

 _We win._

-o-

 ** _(See? I had him cheat due to knowing about this training method AND having breakfast. Told you. Now, the only reason Shade and the others won so easily is because Kakashi let them. I have not made Shade so powerful that he would be able to compete with Kakashi. I assure you, he can't. Kakashi only let them win because of how well they worked together, which was thanks to Shade cheating and choosing to be the one who didn't get the bell. I hope you enjoyed, though I doubt you did. Please review. No flaming please.)_**


	6. Chapter 5: Bask in Victory

**_(Well, as you saw last time, our young heroes aced Kakashi's test. This continues off of that. Hope you enjoy, though you probably won't. I OWN NOTHING!)_**

-o-

Kakashi smiled at the group from behind his mask.

"You all did an excellent job," he said, "You're the first squad to use teamwork right off the back. And you even supported one another selflessly despite your teammate's wishes for you to go hide with your bells, ultimately saving him from facing a much higher level opponent on his own, which would have cost him his life in the field."

"Yeah, we thought it might be better to ignore his orders that time," Naruto said.

Kakashi nodded and said. "In the ninja world, those who disobey the rules are scum; this is true. But those who abandon their friends are worse than scum.

Shade smiled and said, "Well, not bad for a bunch of brats, right? So, do I fail?"

"No," Kakashi said. "In fact, since you put the squad's needs above your own and risked yourself to help your team, you pass with the most outstanding scores of them all."

Naruto and Sakura were both jumping around with joy. Sasuke actually smiled. Shade grinned like a lunatic.

"Squad Seven starts its first mission tomorrow," Kakashi said, giving them a thumbs-up. "Now, let's all go home."

With that, Kakashi began to lead everyone back, but Shade ran past him at a breakneck pace.

"Sorry Kakashi sensei, but I have a date!" Shade yelled behind him as he ran towards the Hyuga estate.

-o-

Tenten lied back on Shade's bed as she tried to catch her breath.

Shade grinned and asked, "What's the matter? Haven't you done this before?"

"Not like that!" she shouted back.

Shade smirked down at the scroll in his lap. He had just attempted to teach Tenten some of his taijutsu, but this time, he added on the chakra enhanced strength technique he had copied from… somewhere that he couldn't remember.

He and she had been training for only an hour before they moved inside to avoid the downpour that had begun. Shade was now looking over a list he had made of his jutsu and was trying to pick out some that could work well for Tenten while she had decided to plop down on his bed and rest after their sparring match.

"Hey, I've been wondering something," Tenten said suddenly.

Shade looked up, and then became shocked when he saw her blushing and nervously looking away. Those were definitely not very Tenten-like habits.

"What's wrong?" Shade asked with genuine concern.

"I was wondering… why you let me train here with you," she said. "I mean, I know the Hyuga elders can't be happy about it since I'm an outsider training in their compound."

Shade had a brief flashback to an old man attempting to hit him after finding out about him training Tenten before getting knocked to the ground… by Hiashi.

"Yeah, not really, but I don't think they'll be sending many complaints my way for a while," Shade said. "I'll explain later."

Tenten eyed him suspiciously, then sighed and moved so that she was sitting on the edge of Shade's bed and facing him while he sat on the floor facing her.

"Well then, why? Why are you so nice to me?" Tenten said.

Shade was about to make a joke about him hoping for a date with her just to try and embarrass her, but then his heart almost stopped.

 ** _Well this is new; your heart is acting strangely. Its rhythm is… inconsistent._**

 _Which means…?_

 ** _You're either completely terrified of being rejected by this girl or you're having a heart attack._**

 _Must be a heart attack since I fear nothing._

 ** _Shade, your grandfather killed hundreds of enemies, walked through Hell, and faced death so often that the Reaper and he might as well have been drinking buddies. He did all of this without an ounce of fear. Then he met your grandmother. That man learned what multiple new forms of terror were all in one day when less than a week before, he had never even tasted the slightest hint of fear in his life. And she was just a five-foot-two civilian with a dough roller!_**

 _So the Aru clan's weakness is women?_

 ** _Only certain women. And it's always a different one for each man._**

 _Great._

"Because," Shade said, avoiding eye contact.

"That's not an answer!" Tenten shouted, puffing up her cheeks indignantly, making the blush on them stand out more prominently.

 _Wait, of course! Blush! I might have a chance._

 ** _About time, you moron! Blushes aren't that hard to see!_**

 _Look, I saw it, but I didn't think that it could mean she might be interested in me!_

 ** _Look at your sister; now tell me that you didn't just sound like an idiot._**

 _Huh… outsmarted by an overgrown useless fur ball; I feel humbled._

 ** _Grrr._**

"Because you… intrigued me…" Shade said.

"What is that even supposed to mean!?" Tenten whined.

"It means that I was interested in you. Figure the rest out for yourself," Shade said, his heart feeling as if it was tap dancing on his rib cage.

Tenten's blush deepened.

"So… are you still interested?"

Shade dug his claws into his leg and focused on the pain to make himself move so he could nod.

Tenten's eyes lit up and she smiled.

"I thought so," she said. "Well, when are we gonna go out for a date?"

Shade felt like he was dreaming.

 _Huh. I feel a little foggy._

 ** _Ah, young love._**

 _Is that what this is? I thought it was some kind of dream._

 ** _Nope, it's all real._**

 _Oh, okay; I'm just gonna have a heart attack real quick._

 ** _Back to the girl, please._**

"Y-you're serious?" Shade questioned. "You'd go out with a guy like me?"

Tenten slid down to the floor in front of him and kissed his forehead.

"I wouldn't ask if I wasn't interested," she answered with a smile after pulling back.

"The day after tomorrow," Shade said, smiling back.

"Got it!" Tenten shouted as she hopped up. "I have to head home, but I'll see you soon, Shade!"

Tenten walked out while pulling out a ninja battle umbrella from one of her scrolls and opening it up to provide protection from the rain. Shade noticed that she was practically skipping as she closed the door.

 _So… she was interested in me too, huh?_

 ** _Don't feel bad; at least you're doing better than Naruto._**

 _That is true._

Shade stood up, put his scroll under his bed, jumped on top of the bed, and whooped in victory.

-o-

 ** _(Yes, this romance started fairly quickly. Granted, this story is mostly an action-based one, but don't worry, I plan on adding some romance twists in later... but don't expect them to be any time soon. Please don't forget to review.)_**


	7. Chapter 6: What Could Go Wrong?

**_(Well... a mission... they get a new mission... this couldn't possibly go wrong... I OWN NOTHING!)_**

-o-

"Sasuke; I'm at point B," Sasuke said through the mic.

"Sakura; I'm at point C," Sakura said next.

Shade then put his fingers against the button strapped on over his neck so he could speak into his ninja mic.

"Shade; I'm at point D, and may I just state how royally boring this is?" Shade said before releasing the button.

Shade had to wait a while, but soon enough, Naruto's voice spoke through the mic as well.

"Naruto; I'm at point A, and it's boring over here, too! Believe it!" he said.

"Cut the chatter, you two. And Naruto, speed up; your response is too slow," Kakashi's voice sounded off through the mic sternly.

Shade and the rest of Squad Seven were scattered through a small area in the forest of the Leaf Village. They were currently after a target that Bakuda very much wanted to kill, so Shade had blocked him out so his cries for blood would stop reaching him.

"Okay, Squad Seven… hm?" Kakashi's voice rang through the mic once more but something had obviously distracted him.

 _This is stupid._

 ** _KILL THE BEAST!_**

 _Darn it, I forgot you were losing it!_

Shade blocked his inner demon out once more, forming a mental barrier between them.

"The target has moved!" Kakashi's voice said frantically through the mic.

Suddenly, a shadow appeared and tackled Shade's face, causing him to fall off of the branch he was sitting on.

"Damn it!" he shouted as he fell.

After he hit the ground, he sat up and rubbed his head. He had been on a low branch, so his injuries were minimal and already beginning to heal due to an ability Shade had learned and required Bakuda's help to use.

 _So, you are helping then?_

 ** _Eat it…_**

 _What the hell is wrong with you?!_

 ** _It is a creature of pure evil!_**

 _YOU'RE A DAMNED DEMON, REMEMBER?!_

 ** _EEEEEEEEEVIIIIIIIIIIL!_**

Shade shook his head and blocked out Bakuda. He then pressed his fingers to his mic's speech button.

"Sorry guys," he said. "The cat just shot by me. I would chase it, but Bakuda seems rather determined to mess with me since this isn't a big mission."

"Learn to control yourself, Shade," Kakashi lectured.

"It's not me who needs to learn, Kakashi-sensei," Shade said, "It's the ancient demonic wolf with an unbridled hatred for every feline in existence."

"I've got him! Ah!" Naruto's voice resounded through the mic, preventing Kakashi from responding.

"Can you verify ribbon on right ear?" Kakashi asked.

"Affirmative," Sasuke responded with the sound of angry cat moans and Naruto screaming in the background, "We've got a positive ID."

"Right," Kakashi concluded, "Lost pet "Tora" captured. Mission accomplished."

"CAN'T WE GET A BETTER MISSION THAN THIS?!" Naruto shouted, causing Shade to throw his mic down and hold his ear in pain, though he could still hear Naruto's voice through the mic on the ground. "I HATE CATS!"

 ** _Naruto Uzumaki is my new favorite human._**

-o-

"Oohhh, my poor little Tora!" the feudal lord's wife cried out.

She was a rather fat woman and Shade hated everything about her, from her pampered attitude to her animal abuse.

 _It would be one rude awakening if people like her learned pain the hard way one day like I did. They always act as if they're too important to do anything. I hate it!_

 ** _I hate the cat more._**

 _SHUT UP ABOUT THE CAT!_

"Mommy was so worried about you, you naughty little fuzzykins!" the large woman continued as she squished her cat. "Yes!"

Naruto laughed and said, "Stupid cat! That kitty deserves to get squashed!"

Naruto continued to laugh while Shade shook his head, glad that the woman couldn't hear them.

"No wonder he ran away," Sakura stated.

Squad Seven was inside the mission receiving office with Iruka sensei, the Land of Fire's feudal lord's wife, and the Third Hokage.

As the woman left, Squad Seven stepped up to the mission table.

"Now then," the Third said with his face buried in an available missions paper, "For Squad Seven's next mission, we have several available tasks.

"Huh? Among them is babysitting the chief councilor's three-year-old, helping his wife to do the shopping, digging up potatoes, eh—"

"Nooooo!"

The Third looked up to see Naruto with his arms forming an 'X' in front of him.

"I wanna go on a real mission!" he shouted childishly.

Shade clocked him across the back of the head.

"Let _me_ do the talking, moron!" he said angrily before smiling apologetically to the Hokage. "Sorry, Lord Hokage; you know how Naruto is. But he does have a good reason as to why he wants a real mission."

The Hokage raised an eyebrow.

"You see," Shade continued, "we have several talented ninja on our team, but we're still the only squad from the latest rookie teams to not go on any serious missions; instead, we've been getting double the normal amounts of missions as most squads but not nearly the same amount of experience. This is extremely frustrating and damages our skills by not letting us hone them in the field."

The Hokage cracked a small smile.

"I see," he said. "Well then, how about your first C-rank?"

Shade smiled. "Only if you believe we are ready, my Lord," he said.

"Um, did I get demoted?" Kakashi asked.

The Hokage gave him a stern look before tossing him a scroll.

"Here is your new mission summary," he said, "Make sure you read it quickly, because the client is already here."

Kakashi glanced over the mission report, then back at the Hokage. Neither said anything, but Shade could tell something was off. It was like they had a cynical look in their eyes, as if they didn't believe the report.

"Send in our visitor!" the Hokage shouted.

Suddenly, a sliding door was opened in the back of the room, revealing an old man with a drunken red face, a fishing hat, and a pack on his back.

"What the—a bunch of little snot-nosed kids?!" the old man irritably questioned.

"A drunken old fool?" Shade questioned back just as irritably.

The man seemed to take offense.

"What was that, you brat? You wanna go?!" he shouted as he moved towards Shade.

Shade was on him in an instant, holding him in the air with one hand by the front of his shirt. "Old man, I may look like a child, but I've seen more blood and death than you could ever imagine. Now calm down and get your act together."

Shade's voice changed in his message to the man. He let the deep and demonic voice of Bakuda speak with him. It was a very useful intimidation tactic and seemed to work on the old man as Shade set him down gently.

"Name," Shade said.

"I am Tazuna," the man said, eyeing Shade suspiciously, as if just realizing how dangerous he could be. "I'm a master bridge builder and I must return to my country. I'm building a bridge there that will change our world and I expect you to get me there safely, even if it means giving up your lives."

Shade shrugged nonchalantly.

"Sure, why not?" he said.

-o-

Squad Seven left the village gates with their new client later that same day. The moment they stepped out of the village gates, Naruto spun around to face everyone, shot his fists into the air, and shouted, "Yeah!"

Shade immediately shot his fists into the air as well and also shouted, "Yeah!"

"What are you two getting so excited about?" Sakura asked.

"No idea," Shade said with a smile.

"This is the first time I ever left the village," Naruto explained as he began quickly looking around like a kid in a candy shop. "I'm a traveler now, believe it!"

"Hey," Tazuna said irritably as he raised a hand and pointed at Naruto, "Am I supposed to trust my life to this runt? He's a joke!"

Naruto froze and Shade could have sworn he saw steam coming out of his ears.

"That "joke" has enough chakra to fuel a train, old man," Shade said, "And the capabilities to be even more dangerous than me."

Tazuna snorted and said, "Yeah right!"

"He's with me," Kakashi said, "and I'm a Jonin, so you don't need to worry."

Naruto crossed his arms angrily, still facing away from all the others. Shade walked forward and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't listen to that drunken old fool," he said to his friend, "he's got no idea what he's talking about. Just ignore him until the mission is over."

Suddenly, Shade felt the hairs on his neck stand up. He leaned forward and let his arms hang dead in front of him while he started growling like a rabid animal out of instinct.

Kakashi immediately drew a kunai out while Sasuke noted their behavior and decided to take a fighting stance. Sakura and Naruto didn't seem to know what to do. Tazuna looked worried.

Soon enough, as quickly as they had gone up, the hairs on Shade's neck went back down. He stopped growling and stood up street.

"Whoever it was, they're gone now," Shade said. "Let's hope they don't come back."

Everyone nodded except for Tazuna and Kakashi. Tazuna looked stressed while Kakashi eyeballed him from behind.

-o-

Squad Seven and Tazuna walked down a dried up road. It hadn't rained in days, so the heat was killer.

"Say, Mr. Tazuna," Sakura suddenly spoke up.

"What?" Tazuna grumpily questioned.

"Your country is the Land of Waves, right?"

"Yeah, what of it?" he asked, still sounding grumpy.

"Kakashi-sensei," Sakura said, turning on their sensei, "there are ninja in that country, too, aren't there?"

"No," Kakashi responded, "there are no ninja in the Land of Waves. But, in other countries, there are hidden villages, each with their own different customs and cultures, where ninja reside.

"To the people of this continent, the existence of a shinobi village means strength; military strength. In other words, that's how they protect themselves, and maintain the balance of power with neighboring countries.

"The ninja villages are not controlled by any government; they're independent and have equal status.

"Now, a small island, like the Land of Waves, has natural protection from the sea, so there's no need for a ninja village. The five ancient lands that possess shinobi villages are the lands of Fire, Water, Lightning, Wind, and Earth. They each occupy vast territories. Together, they are known as the five great shinobi nations.

"The Land of Fire has the Village Hidden in the Leaves; the Land of Water, the Village Hidden in the Mist; the Land of Lightning, the Village Hidden in the Clouds; the Land of Wind, the Village Hidden in the Sand; and the Land of Earth, the Village Hidden in the Stones.

"Only the leaders of these hidden villages are permitted the name 'Kage', which means 'shadow'. Hokage, Mizukage, Raikage, Kazekage, Tsuchikage; these are the leaders, the five shadows, that reign over thousands of ninja."

When Kakashi's speech ended, Shade was a little bored, but glad for the politics lesson all the same.

Sakura gasped. "Then Lord Hokage's really important!" she said cheerfully.

Suddenly, Shade caught sight of a look that the rest of his team shared between each other. He realized that it was the universal "yeah right" look.

"Hey!" Kakashi shouted. "You all just doubted Lord Hokage, didn't you!? That's what you were thinking."

The Genin were all facing forward, away from their sensei, and none of them dared to look back except for Shade. Naruto and Sakura shook their heads nervously while Sasuke stood stock still and Shade smiled and said, "Maybe they were, but not me; I know looks can be deceiving."

"Well, anyway," Kakashi said, walking forward and placing a hand on Sakura's head as if she was his kid, "there are no ninja battles in a C-rank mission, so you can relax."

"Then we're not going to run into any foreign enemy ninja or anything like that!" Sakura called out happily.

Naruto and Sasuke turned around to face Kakashi and Sakura. Shade was smiling at them until he saw the guilty look on Tazuna's face.

 ** _Be prepared for a fight._**

 _Got it._

Kakashi laughed and said "Not likely."

-o-

Squad Seven continued on their long journey, stopping only for short periods of time to rest before going on again. Shade was completely bored when they walked past a puddle.

 _It hasn't rained in days._

 ** _And the dry heat has been incredibly vicious for all of those days._**

 _Not a puddle?_

 ** _Not a puddle._**

Kakashi's head turned to look at it and then his head turned forward.

 _He knows._

 ** _He must be waiting for the right moment._**

Suddenly, two ninja leaped from the puddle and launched bladed chains at Kakashi. They never saw Shade coming.

Shade lunged forward and caught the chains himself. He yanked on them, pulling the two ninja forward by the chains connecting to their gauntlets. When they flew towards him, he used his chakra strength enhancement to try and strike them, but then the chains released and they caught their balance. They then dashed forward and struck Shade in the gut with their normal hands, sending him flying.

 _Damn! They hit hard! I can't recover fast enough!_

 ** _Don't worry, Kakashi's coming!_**

Kakashi dashed forward to confront the ninja, but before Shade could even hit the ground, the two ninja attackers had embedded several dozen kunai and shuriken in Kakashi.

They then faced Naruto, who was now frozen in fear. Shade hit the dirt.

The two ninja, who Shade now saw Mist headbands on, appeared behind Naruto, another chain connecting their gauntlets. Shade stood up but the pain in his gut kept him from moving too fast.

 _I'm not gonna make it!_

 ** _Let me out, then!_**

 _That'll take too long!_

 ** _Then summon something!_**

 _That takes too long, too!_

 ** _Do something!_**

 _I can't!_

Sasuke caught the enemy's chains with a well-aimed shuriken, which then embedded itself in a tree while taking the chain with it. He then threw a kunai through the hole in the shuriken and into the tree, locking the chains in place.

 _Oh, thank God._

 ** _There, you're healed, now go fight!_**

 _Right!_

Bakuda had activated the healing ability that Shade and he could use together and it was now complete, allowing Shade to move.

The ninja attempted to release the chains from their gauntlets again, but Sasuke landed on their wrists, one foot on each gauntlet, then grabbed hold of each gauntlet with his hands, and kicked his feet into their faces behind him, launching them away as their chains released.

Naruto's mouth remained open as he looked on in awe. Shade didn't have time to deal with his shock, though, as the enemy quickly recovered and launched another attack, this time picking two separate targets.

One of them ran at Naruto, while the other dashed for Tazuna. Sakura leaped in front of Tazuna to guard him, but Shade knew that she stood no chance. Sasuke leaped in front of her, obviously realizing the same thing.

Shade chose to do a flying head-butt into the side of the ninja running towards Naruto. The ninja flew about thirty feet before he connected with the ground. Shade held the top of his head, hurting from his own attack.

Unfortunately, the ninja had already cut Naruto's hand, and Shade could smell poison.

 _Damn!_

 ** _Look out!_**

Shade looked back to where his enemy had been only to see a gauntlet mere inches from his face… then it was gone.

 _What the—?_

 ** _Behind you._**

Shade spun around to see Kakashi standing in front of Sasuke, holding the now unconscious Mist ninja in headlocks.

"Hi," he said as if nothing had happened.

Sakura looked elated. Sasuke gave him a look that said even _he_ thought Kakashi was showing off. Naruto simply stared in shock once more. Shade was pissed as he noticed the log impaled with ninja weapons.

"You psychotic old man!" Shade shouted angrily. "We nearly died!"

"You were fine," Kakashi said. "But I do admit, I was worried when I saw Naruto freeze up."

Kakashi then turned to Sakura and Sasuke. "Nice work, you two; very smooth," he said before turning to Shade and Naruto. "You too, Shade. And my apologies to you, Naruto; I really didn't expect you to freeze up like that."

Tazuna looked relieved, yet guilty.

 _I'm going to kill that old man! He knows something!_

"Hey," Sasuke said, looking towards Naruto, "You alright?"

Naruto looked like he was about to retort when Shade put a hand over his mouth.

"He's not making fun of you, Naruto," he said before pulling his hand away.

Naruto took a deep breath to calm himself, then said, "I'm fine."

When he tried to walk to the others, Shade grabbed him by the shoulder.

"Don't move. That cut on your hand has poison in it and moving around will only spread it," Shade said.

Naruto froze and looked at his cut in fear. Shade smiled.

"Don't worry," he said, "Judging by the scent, I'd say it's pretty weak, but still, let's not take any chances until we've opened the wound to drained it."

"Mr. Tazuna," Kakashi said suddenly, scaring the old man.

"Yeah, what?" he asked after calming himself.

"We need to talk," he said calmly

-o-

They soon tied the two Mist ninja to a tree and they angrily looked up at Kakashi

"They're Chunin from the Village Hidden in the Mist," Kakashi told the others. "Their specialty is relentless attack; they keep fighting no matter what the sacrifice."

"How did you know about our ambush?" one of the Mist ninja asked, looking at Shade, who smiled.

"A puddle?" Kakashi asked, "On a clear day?"

"And in the middle of a small drought, no less," Shade said.

"In that case, why didn't either of you take them out by surprise or something?" Tazuna asked.

"I don't know about Kakashi," Shade answered, "but I was worried that they might be too tough for me to handle, even if I did surprise them. I now see that if I had simply ran over to the puddle and quickly put down a paper bomb, I could have beaten them, but I wasn't sure before."

"And I needed to know who they were really after," Kakashi said. "If it was just ninja attacking ninja, or something else…"

Kakashi's voice trailed off as he gave Tazuna an accusing look.

"Hm? What are you getting at?" the old man asked.

"This," Kakashi said, "I wanted to know if they were really after us, Leaf ninja, or if they were after you, the master bridge builder who hasn't stopped acting suspicious since you made your mission request.

"You see, when you first put in your request, you asked for the standard protection, from robbers and highwaymen. You didn't say there were ninja looking for you, hunting you down. Your report even seemed a bit suspicious, and now I know why; right now, you are very important to your country, so standard protection shouldn't normally cut it."

"So that's why you and the Hokage looked like you didn't believe it," Shade said.

"Exactly," Kakashi answered before turning back to Tazuna. "But if we had known just how risky it _really_ was, it would have been labeled a B-rank mission or higher. Our task was simply to get you to your destination and protect you while you finished building your bridge.

"If we knew we would be fielding attacks from enemy ninja, we would have staffed differently, and charged for the cost of a B mission.

"Apparently you have your reasons, but lying to us is not acceptable! We are now beyond the scope of this mission."

Tazuna looked guilty during this entire speech.

"You know, you have a real talent for lectures, Kakashi-sensei," Shade stated.

"We're Genin," Sakura said. "This is too advanced for our level of training! We should go back… and I really think we should treat Naruto's wound and get the poison out as soon as possible!"

Naruto looked down at his hand in shame.

 _He feels as if he's a burden._

 ** _It's up to him whether or not he becomes one._**

 _I know that… but does_ he _know it?_

 ** _We'll see._**

"Back in our village, we can take him to a doctor," Sakura finished.

"Hmmm," Kakashi said, looking at Naruto as well.

"Huh?" Naruto questioned.

"Naruto's hand could become a problem," Kakashi said. "I guess we should go back to the village."

 _Tough break. Naruto won't feel so good about himself after this._

 ** _It's a shame, but it's too late to change things now._**

Naruto suddenly drew out a kunai and plunged it into the back of his hand, opening the wound wide open.

Sakura and Tazuna gasped while Sasuke and Kakashi looked at him like he was crazy. Shade smirked.

 _He's one hell of a kid._

 ** _He's got guts; I'll give him that… though I can't honestly say that he's got much else._**

 _Ah, shut up, you old prude!_

"Why am I so different?" he asked out loud as he looked at his hand. "Why am I always… argh!"

"Naruto!" Sakura shouted in concern and began to run forward, "Stop that; what're you doing!?"

But Shade held an arm out in front of her, stopping her.

"I worked so hard to get here!" Naruto continued. "Pushing myself until it hurt! Training alone for hours! Anything to get stronger; to reach my dream!

Naruto then looked them each in the eye one by one.

"I will never back down again," he said as blood dripped onto the ground, "and let someone else rescue me. I will never run away. I will not lose to anyone!"

Sasuke smiled a bit and Shade gave his usual smirk as Naruto held up his bleeding hand, the kunai still stuck inside it.

"Upon this wound, I make this pledge," he continued, "Bridge Builder; I'll complete this mission and protect you with this kunai knife!"

Naruto then spun around and faced away from them, but Shade could still tell he was smiling. "Don't worry," he said, "I'll be fine!"

Shade smiled and tossed him some bandages. "Take the knife out and wrap up the wound, you lunatic," he said. Naruto smiled and did as he was told.

Shade then turned to the others. "I don't know about you guys, but my vote is with Naruto; I say we complete the mission."

Everyone stared for a moment until Sasuke stepped forward. "I'm with Naruto as well," he said, shocking everyone on Squad Seven except for Shade.

"Alright, well, I guess I'm with you, too," Sakura said. "But you've got one self-abusive personality, Naruto! It's called masochism!"

"And you would be the expert on that, right Sakura?" Shade smarted off with a perverted grin. "I mean, who else is more into whips and chains than you?"

The entirety of Squad Seven looked at Shade as if he had grown a second head. Sakura also turned beet red and Naruto started laughing.

Sakura then turned to face the other way and crossed her arms angrily, but it was obvious that she was still embarrassed by the pervy joke.

Soon enough, Naruto's hand was wrapped up and Squad Seven was on their way again with a renewed purpose. Shade smiled.

 _Looks like we might get a chance to play, after all._

 ** _Well then, let's be sure to give the next assassin a taste of hell._**

 _Can do!_

-o-

 ** _(See? What did I tell ya? Shade isn't invincible. Actually, to be honest, he's not that much stronger than Sasuke. He does show his true power in a few chapters, though, but once we reach it, understand that that is his limit. Please review!)_**


	8. Chapter 7: Demon of the Hidden Mist

**_(Hm. Another chapter. I'm beginning to wonder if I should start talking to my OCs or other characters as a form of amusement on these author's notes. I've also been thinking about doing a Q & A with all of the characters in this story, plus myself. For example; someone could ask Shade, myself (Reaper), Kakashi, Sasuke, Sakura, Naruto, or any other character questions. I believe that I will do that for the last chapter. That chapter will be... New Trainer's First Day. So I'll just set up a Q & A chapter right after that. That means prepare your questions because I will try my best to answer all of them since there's so few people willing to review this. I OWN NOTHING!)_**

-o-

"This fog is so thick," Sakura said quietly, "I can barely see anything."

Squad Seven, Tazuna, and a hired sailor were all in a small boat heading across the water. The sailor was working the back paddle while everyone else simply sat quietly, though Naruto was determined to try and see through the fog as he sat up front.

"The bridge isn't far now," the sailor said. "Our destination is just ahead; the Land of Waves."

Soon enough, a giant bridge began to appear through the fog. Shade could make out the construction equipment and whistled as he looked at it all.

 _It must take a lot of people to run all that._

 ** _My thoughts exactly._**

"Whoa!" Naruto shouted. "It's huge!"

"Quiet!" the sailor said in a loud whisper. "I told you no noise! Why do you think we're traveling like this, huh?! Cutting off the engine and rowing? Moving in the dense fog? So they don't see us!"

Naruto covered his mouth while Kakashi, Shade, Sasuke, and Sakura all looked at Tazuna accusingly.

"And who exactly might see us?" Shade asked.

Tazuna didn't answer.

"Mr. Tazuna," Kakashi said. "Before we reach the pier, I want to ask you something."

Once again, he said nothing.

"The men who are after you; I need to know why," Kakashi demanded. "If you don't tell us, I'm afraid I'll have to end this mission when we drop you ashore."

"Hm," Tazuna answered.

Squad Seven all looked at him expectantly.

"I have no choice but to tell you," he began, "No… I _want_ you to know the truth.

"Like you said; this is beyond the scope of your original mission. The one who seeks my life is a very short man who casts a very long and deadly shadow."

"A deadly shadow?" Kakashi asked.

Tazuna said nothing.

"Hm… who is it?" Kakashi asked with a curious tone.

"You know him," Tazuna said. "At least I'm sure you've heard his name before. He's one of the wealthiest men in the world; the shipping magnate, Gato."

"Gato? Of Gato transport?" Kakashi asked incredulously. "He's a business leader; everyone knows him!"

"Who, who? What, what?" Naruto asked, interested in the enemy.

"Gato," Tazuna began, "is a very powerful tycoon from a famous company, that's true. But below the surface, with the same ruthless methods he uses to take over businesses and nations, he sells drugs and contraband.

Shade immediately perked up. "Drugs and contraband, you say?" he questioned. "And where might one find these goods?"

Kakashi eyed Shade intensely.

"T-to take out his supply, I mean!" Shade said nervously. "I promise I wasn't planning on taking any sake for my own personal gain. I mean, come on, I'm a ninja for God's sake!

 ** _Yeah right!_**

 _Shut up!_

Kakashi sighed, but Tazuna gave Shade a look of warning.

"You wouldn't want to try his stuff; it's rumored to be not only extremely expensive, but also highly addictive and extremely dangerous. Even the alcohol is likely laced with something dangerous."

Shade sighed in disappointment and said, "Of course his sake would be laced."

Shade didn't drink since he was underage, but he was more than willing to sell sake to someone who was.

"Anyways," Tazuna continued, "he also uses gangs and ninja.

"It was one year ago when Gato first set his sights on the Land of Waves. He used his vast wealth to take total control of our transports and shipping. Anyone who tried to stand in his way simply… disappeared.

"In an island nation, a man who controls the sea controls everything; finance, government, our very lives! But there's one thing he fears; the bridge! When it is complete, it will join us to the land, and that will break his control!

Tazuna then looked up at the bridge.

" _I_ am the bridge builder," he finished.

Squad Seven all stared at him.

'So that's it," Sakura determined. "Since you're in charge of the bridge, you're standing in this gangster's way."

"And that makes you a threat," Shade added, "which, in turn, makes you a target."

"That means," Sasuke began, "those guys we fought in the forest; they were working for Gato."

Naruto grunted and gave a nod in response.

"I don't understand," Kakashi said, "If you knew he was dangerous, knew he'd send ninja to eliminate you, why did you hide that from us?"

"Because the Land of Waves… is a small, impoverished nation," Tazuna explained. "Even our nobles have little money."

There was a moment of silence on the boat as the information sank in.

"The common people who are building this bridge… they can't pay for an A or B ranked mission," Tazuna continued. "It's too expensive. If you end the mission when you drop me ashore, there will be no bridge. They'll assassinate me before I reach home."

There was another moment of silence.

"But don't feel bad about that. Of course, my sweet little grandson will be upset. He'll cry," Tazuna suddenly did an impression of a crying little boy, "Grandad! I want my grandad!"

Sakura and Naruto looked as if they were about to break under the pressure of the old man's guilt trip.

"Oh," Tazuna continued, "and my daughter will condemn the ninja of the Hidden Leaves, denouncing and blaming you for abandoning her father and living her life in sorrow."

Shade was beginning to smirk as faint traces of sweat appeared on the brows of Sasuke and Kakashi.

 _He's good._

 ** _Definitely one of the best, if you ask me._**

"Ah, well…" Tazuna said finally. "It's not your fault. Forget it!"

Everyone in the squad except for Shade either moaned or sighed in defeat. Shade started laughing.

"You're pretty good at the guilt trip, old man!" he laughed out. "No need to go that far, though. I'd stay and help anyways just so I could fight strong ninja."

Kakashi scratched at his headband. "Well," he said, "I guess it's been decided for us; we'll have to keep guarding you."

"Oh!" Tazuna exclaimed. "I'm very grateful."

Shade could almost hear him mentally laughing.

"We're approaching the shore," the sailor suddenly said. He then looked to the old man. "Tazuna, we've been very fortunate; no one has noticed us so far."

"Nice going," Tazuna said.

The boat sailed under an archway, exited the fog, and appeared in a harbor with a beautiful ocean view that screamed serenity and tranquility. The land, however, painted a much different picture; a picture of poverty and pain.

Soon enough, everyone was stepping off of the boat and onto the dock.

"That's as far as I go," the sailor said to them. "Good luck, Tazuna."

"Right," Tazuna said back, "Thank you for taking such a risk."

"Just be careful," the sailor told him. He then started up his engine and rode off.

"Okay," Tazuna said, turning around as the man left. "Take me to my home. And I mean get me there in one piece."

"Right," Kakashi said.

After that exchange, the ninja and their client began the remainder of their journey.

-o-

Shade and Naruto walked in the front of the group. Sasuke soon caught up with them.

"What do you think?" Sasuke asked.

"About what?" Naruto and Shade asked back in unison.

"About this mission and the ninja targeting our client," Sasuke specified.

"I think we're going to be pretty useless in the next fight," Shade said.

"Why's that?" Naruto questioned.

"Well, they've already sent two Chunin after us," Shade answered, "and that failed terribly, so who do you think they'll send now?"

"Jonin," Sasuke responded, "Elite ninja with deadly skills. You're right; they'll be way out of our league."

"Exactly," Shade said. "The best we can hope for is for Kakashi-sensei to be good enough to take them on without much support."

Naruto gulped. "And, uh, who do you think they'll send if we beat their Jonin?"

"Likely no one," Shade said. "I doubt Gato is actually hiring through a village. It's more likely that he's hired a bunch of rogue ninja, and they probably won't have anyone stronger than their next assassin."

Naruto breathed out a sigh of relief… before he suddenly threw a kunai knife. It whizzed past Shade and went into a bush.

Shade instantly took a battle stance with him leaning over and his arms hanging loosely in front of him, ready to use the Key Lock style.

Sasuke drew out a kunai while Kakashi eyed the bush suspiciously and Sakura drew out her own kunai. Tazuna looked like he was about to have a heart attack.

Shade suddenly ran forward, letting his arms shoot out behind him, still prepared for the Key Lock. He froze when he saw the white rabbit that was panicking.

 ** _Someone was here._**

 _How do you know?_

 ** _That rabbit shouldn't be white this time of year. Someone raised it indoors, in captivity, to be used in a substitution._**

 _You're right. Naruto must have just missed him._

"You just missed whoever it was, Naruto!" Shade called as he picked up the rabbit and held it in his arms gently. "They used this rabbit for a substitution. They must have been spying on us, likely trying to figure out the fastest way to take out Kakashi-sensei."

Shade walked to the others and Naruto began profusely apologizing to the bunny.

"I'm gonna keep him," Shade said. "He's been raised in captivity, so he likely wouldn't last long in the wild. He'll make a good pet."

Kakashi eyed the rabbit, then Shade.

"What?" Shade asked. "I may be a little nuts, but I'm not heartless. Also, we'd better get ready for the ambush."

Kakashi nodded, then looked past Shade, only for Shade to see his eye widen.

"Look out!" he shouted.

Shade jumped high and looked down to see a blade spin by underneath him.

 _I recognize that sword. Tenten brought me a scroll with that blade's picture in it._

 ** _That's right; Head Chopper. I remember it being in the scroll about the Seven Swordsman of the Mist that you read from the pile of scrolls she brought. It belongs to Zabuza Momochi, a well-known rogue ninja and silent killing specialist, also known as the Demon of the Hidden Mist._**

 _This is gonna suck, then._

 ** _Most definitely._**

Everyone else hit the deck as the blade went over them.

Shade landed and looked up at the blade, now stuck in a tree, to see a man with sickly colored skin that seemed both tanned and pale, bandages covering his face the same way Kakashi's mask covered his, minus the eye coverage from the headband, and strange, blue cheetah print arm warmers. He wore no shirt, but had baggy pants, and his headband was turned to the side.

The man was standing on the sword's hilt and facing away from them. He still had his head turned back to them, though, and he was looking down at them as if they were his next meal.

 _I have a bad feeling about this._

 ** _As do I._**

Naruto was twitching in anticipation but Shade put his hand on his shoulder.

"Don't even think about it, Naruto," he said. "Kakashi-sensei might not even be able to take this guy. I might have to end this myself."

"And how are you gonna do that, little one?" Zabuza asked.

"I've got a few tricks up my sleeve," Shade responded.

 ** _Are you really trying to bluff your way out of this?_**

 _YOU HAVE A BETTER IDEA?!_

Zabuza spared a quick laugh, before looking over to Kakashi.

"Well, well," Kakashi said, nonchalantly stepping forward with a lazy slouch and both his hands in his pockets, "if it isn't Zabuza Momochi; rogue ninja from the Village Hidden in the Mist."

"Kakashi of the Sharingan eye; did I get that right?" Zabuza asked.

 _Sharingan? No way!_

 ** _Shade, that one eyed Sharingan ability you have; it must have been copied off of Kakashi!_**

 _But Sharingan is a bloodline trai!_

 ** _It is possible that he has a secondhand Sharingan underneath that headband._**

 _Secondhand?_

 ** _Yes. As in surgically implanted after being removed from someone else. I wonder whose eye he carved out..._**

 _That's possible?!_

 ** _Yes it is. Someone could do the same with your Arugan, though they wouldn't be able to perform any Kekkei Genkai since their DNA won't shift like yours. If they get it, though, they'll basically still have a weaker Sharingan._**

 _What? WHY WAS I NEVER TOLD OF THIS?!_

Bakuda didn't answer, but Shade had bigger fish to fry.

Kakashi grabbed a hold of his headband.

"It's too bad," Zabuza said, turning around and facing the group completely, "but you'll have to hand over the old man."

No one said a word and Shade set the rabbit on the ground before forming a small ice cage around it with an ability which he was fairly certain was a Kekkei Genkai.

"Now, quick!" Kakashi yelled out. "Manji formation; protect the bridge builder! Shade, with me!"

Shade looked at Kakashi apprehensively as the others all got in position in front of the old man.

"You want me to use some jutsu to back you up, don't you?" Shade asked.

Kakashi nodded.

 _I'm gonna die here._

 ** _It is beginning to look that way._**

 _You are not helping._

 ** _Just kidding._**

 _Well don't._

Shade crouched down, ready to move at a moment's notice. He would be of no use in this fight if it boiled down to taijutsu, so his only choice was to use distraction and long distance sneak attacks.

"The rest of you," Kakashi said, "stay out of this fight. I taught you teamwork; now it's time to use it."

Kakashi then pulled up his headband, revealing a large scar running over an eye socket where a Sharingan eye resided.

Shade smirked and activated his Byakugan.

"Remember, Kakashi-sensei; I'm not going toe-to-toe with this guy," Shade warned.

"I wouldn't want you to," Kakashi assured him. "Just leave that to me."

Shade dove into the trees and watched the fight from a distance.

"Well," Zabuza said. "Looks like I get to see the Sharingan in action, not to mention what appears to be a young Aru. This truly is an honor."

Shade tensed up on the branch he was sitting on.

"Everyone keeps saying Sharingan, Sharingan," Naruto whined. "Will someone please tell me what Sharingan is?!"

"I'll tell you later," Shade said, using a jutsu to make his voice come from several different places so Zabuza wouldn't know where he was hiding.

Suddenly, a fog came in.

"You know, Kakashi," Zabuza said, "in the assassination unit of the Hidden Mist, we had a standing order to destroy you on sight. Your profile was in our bingo book. It called you "the man who copied over a thousand jutsu; Kakashi, the copy ninja"."

"Wow, that's so cool!" Naruto shouted.

"Enough talking," Zabuza said, crouching on the hilt of Head Chopper. "I need to exterminate the old man; now!"

Tazuna looked terrified, but the others all stayed in their manji formation in front of him.

 _I'm worried._

 ** _Don't be. Just focus on the task at hand._**

 _Right._

"So, I'll have to eliminate you first, eh Kakashi?" Zabuza questioned when no one moved. "So be it."

Suddenly, Zabuza ripped his sword out of the tree and ran for the nearby lake. Shade could barely track him, but luckily, he was just able to. He saw his chance when Zabuza stopped and stood on the water.

 _Water Dragon Jutsu!_

A watery dragon appeared behind Zabuza and tried to attack him, but he dodged every blow. Luckily, this prevented him from building up chakra, which he had been doing before Shade had attacked.

 _I can't let him get away!_

Suddenly, Zabuza slashed through Shade's water dragon with Head Chopper then threw up a hand sign.

"Ninja art; Hidden Mist Jutsu!" he shouted before disappearing in the now thickening mist. Shade could still see him, but he doubted the others could.

 _I'm gonna have to wait for a better opening if I want to conserve my chakra._

 ** _That would be wise._**

Shade waited as the others spoke.

Mostly, the conversation was made up of Kakashi telling them about Zabuza and the silent killing technique, so Shade didn't listen since he had already read about it.

When the mist began to thicken even further, Shade became a little worried because even he could no longer see Zabuza, so he deactivated his Byakugan. The mist was laced with too much chakra for him to spot Zabuza with his mostly unpracticed Byakugan.

 _Damn! He overpowered my Byakugan with his Hidden Mist Jutsu! I can't even see the others._

 ** _Keep up your guard._**

"Eight points," Zabuza said.

Shade froze when he heard the voice. He couldn't even tell where it was coming from.

"Larynx, spine, lungs, liver, jugular, subclavian artery, kidney, heart," Zabuza said, listing out the different kill points normally used by assassins. "Now, which will be my kill point?"

Shade didn't move a muscle. He could sense Zabuza near him, but he couldn't exactly where, and he was worried that if he moved, he would provoke his enemy.

 _This is gonna be tricky._

 ** _Shade, there's a strong killer intent in the air._**

 _I know. It must be from Zabuza and Kakashi._

"Sasuke!" Kakashi's voice called out. "Calm down. I'll protect you with my life; all of you. I will not allow my comrades to die; trust me."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that, Kakashi!"

Shade felt a shift in the wind around him and immediately drew out one of the weapons he was planning on using as a bluff on this mission; Saw.

He held it up in a blocking gesture by his side, just in time to block Head Chopper before it cut him in half. The force of the blow still sent him flying so far that he landed in front of Sasuke, who was in the front of the manji formation. Everyone appeared to be shocked… but not as shocked as they were when Zabuza appeared between them and Tazuna.

"Move!" Shade yelled as he appeared in front of Zabuza in a crouching position with his foot launching upwards towards his jaw, attempting to perform the Hidden Leaf Shadow. Zabuza jerked his head back in time to avoid it, which made Shade curse under his breath right before Kakashi appeared and planted a kunai directly in their opponent's gut, making Shade's inner voice cry out in joy… until he noticed the water.

 _Damn!_

 ** _Look out!_**

Shade spun around only to get booted out of the way by his attacker.

"Die!" Zabuza cried as he slashed through Kakashi.

Kakashi's body then turned to water, which then splashed onto the ground.

 _Yes! A water clone!_

Shade stood back up and faced Zabuza with a smirk.

"You lose," he told him as Kakashi appeared behind the shocked Zabuza, holding a kunai to his throat.

"Don't move," Kakashi told him.


End file.
